


chills - DreamNotFound

by queeniac_a03



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, GeorgeNotFound - Fandom, Minecraft youtube, dream - Fandom
Genre: Fluff, Idk how to tag things, M/M, PAX East, PG, This is poorly written, dream accidental face reveal pog, dreamnotfound, if that isn't painfully obvious, it's literally just dream and george snuggling for like ten chapters, just dudes bein gay, the opposite of slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:28:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28220916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queeniac_a03/pseuds/queeniac_a03
Summary: !! Updates very slowly. Mental health has not been it recently. !!Based on the song "Chills" by June.Dream and George have always had a spark. They flirt, they banter, all in good fun and fair sport. Dream, however, hasn't been entirely honest with himself about how he feels about George- and it's about to start mattering, because he's going to meet George for the first time. When they finally meet up for a convention in Boston, planning on spending a week together with their group of friends, Dream starts to realize that those little chills he feels when George looks his way might be impossible to ignore.(From both Dream and George's perspectives- the chapters will alternate!)(TLDR; Dream meets George for the first time and realizes he's bad at suppressing feelings, especially when George is so affectionate. It's literally just quick burn fluff.)
Relationships: Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), dreamnotfound - Relationship
Comments: 149
Kudos: 704





	1. part one - dream

**Author's Note:**

> In which Dream meets a very jet-lagged George in Boston.

“Flight 107 to Boston, Massachusetts, now boarding.”

Dream shouldered his backpack, artfully maneuvering his way through the crowd of disgruntled tourists on their way home from vacation. If he were to take a guess, he’d say he was one of the only native Floridians on his flight- the amount of New England sports attire surrounding him was atrocious.

He settled into line, waiting for the flight attendants to start boarding his section. A hum of excitement shivered down his spine. He was finally on his way to meet some of his closest friends in the world- and, of course, spend the weekend at one of the biggest gaming conventions in the country.

On a whim, his group of friends had purchased weekend passes to Pax East, a gaming convention in Boston that happened once each year. Big name influencers from all over the country made appearances there, so- as Sapnap so artfully put it- “Since we’re big now too, we _have_ to be there.”

Dream was happy for an excuse to meet his friends, considering they’d been looking for one for a while. He and George always made offhanded jokes about flying out to each other's houses as a prank, but that was all it ever was- a joke. Never once had they actually looked at plane tickets, or even attempted to broach the subject in a serious way.

Which was part of the reason why Dream’s stomach prickled with anxiety as he made his way forward in line. It wasn’t that he was shy, or even antisocial- he was just nervous about making a good first- second?- impression.

The singular nice thing about the entire ordeal was the fact that nobody knew what Dream actually looked like. Even in a crowded place like this, Dream could just be Clay.

He handed his boarding pass to the flight attendant, gave her his trademark dazzling smile his mother always said was his best feature, and headed onto the plane.

He had thankfully snagged a window seat. He rarely needed to use the bathroom on planes, even on a three hour flight like this one. He loved the feeling of flying, of watching the world drop out from beneath him. He used to press his nose against the glass when he was a child and point at all the different types of clouds drifting by.

He popped in his headphones and shuffled the playlist he’d made specifically for the plane- mostly loud, cheery music he could shut his brain off to- and tapped into his text messages.

_Taking off soon,_ he sent to his group chat with Sapnap, George, and Bad.

_Have a safe flight!_ Sapnap replied almost instantly. Dream scoffed- the man barely put down his phone.

_If you crash, can I have your subscribers?_ was George’s elegant response.

_Absolutely not,_ Dream replied. _Bad can have them, cause he didn’t ask_.

_Heck yeah favoritism_ Bad replied.

George sent back a frowny face.

He went to turn on airplane mode, but a Snapchat from George directed his attention. It was a selfie of him, sitting in a hotel room- George had already arrived an hour ago- captioned: _You should send me one more selfie, just to make sure I pick up the right gamer boy from the airport._

Dream covered his laugh with a cough, not wanting to bother the older man who’d just sat down next to him. He had a running bit with George about extorting the most possible selfies from each other. He didn’t like to admit it to anyone, but he had an entire folder in his phone dedicated to screenshots of George’s Snapchats. It was totally with selfish intentions- he thought George was attractive.

Like he always did, he screenshotted George’s picture. He took a quick picture of himself, then stared at the caption bar.

Dream liked to flirt with George. It was just a fact of his life at this point. He found any ridiculous excuse to make romantic jokes and comments. It had started out as a bit, but became such an odd, constant piece of their dynamic that flirting was almost second nature to him at this point.

For whatever reason, today he hesitated.

He’d never met George before. For the first time ever, he was going to be seeing him in person- not over a FaceTime call, or a Snapchat, but in real life. The thought was intimidating, and also gave him pause. His weird, half-real feelings were manageable now. How would that change when he met George for real?

  
Dream wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted to find out.

He captioned the picture _Like you could ever forget this beautiful face_ anyway and sent it.

George screenshotted it. Of course. He replied with a view of Boston out of his hotel window. _Can’t wait to see you,_ it said.

Dream felt the start of a blush drift across his cheeks. _Yeah, can’t wait to see you too, Gogy <3 _, he started to reply- then, biting his lip, deleted the heart. Little bit too much.

George opened the snap and didn’t reply. He turned his phone onto airplane mode and turned up the volume of his music so loud he figured the man sitting next to him could hear it.

He didn’t care. It did wonders to quiet his incessant thoughts.

He tuned out the pre-flight announcements, and it felt like eternity before the plane was finally charging down the runway towards the open skies. His stomach dropped out as the plane began its ascent, and he watched the world fall away below.

He’d worry about George later. For now, he would just fly.

\--

He fell asleep at some point, because he started a movie he’d downloaded beforehand on his phone halfway through the flight and woke up when the credits were rolling. Thankfully, he’d slumped against the window, instead of the old man on his right. He shut off his phone, figuring he’d rewatch the movie on the way home- according to the flight map playing on the tv screen on the back of the seat in front of him, they’d be landing in ten minutes.

He zoned out again, taking sips of the watered-down iced coffee he’d picked up in the airport in an attempt to shake off the sleepiness that settled heavily on his body. He felt stiff- he usually never slept in any variety of moving vehicle, mainly because he was such a light sleeper. He blamed it on his poor choices the night prior, staying up until ungodly hours to talk to George before he boarded his flight from London to Boston.

His playlist had finished and started to loop, so he switched to a different one. He leaned back against the seat, closing his eyes. A song began to play.

_Well this is something you don’t usually see_

_He keeps on crossing my path, don’t even live on my street_

_I don’t know how to put it, think we’re destined to meet_

_Like I’ve been holding my breath, and he’s the instant relief…_

Dream’s mind wandered like it normally did when he listened to music. Like they had a lot lately, his thoughts fixated on George.

_I get chills_

_Running through my body, baby_

_Feels_

_Like we’re getting something started, baby_

_Chills_

_I think I kinda like it_

_I won’t try to fight it_

_I can’t help but get chills_

Dream sat up and paused the song.

He couldn’t do this. Not right now. If he let himself think about it, he’d manifest it into real feelings, and spend the entire trip driving himself insane. He sat in silence after that, biting the inside of his cheek until the pain distracted him from his thoughts and he nearly tasted blood.

He felt borderline claustrophobic when the plane landed, his panic only placated by the fact that he was pretty close to the front of the plane. The tickets had been a little more expensive, but Dream had money to burn.

He turned his airplane mode off and put his phone in his pocket, figuring the dumb thing would take a while to process the text messages he’d undoubtedly received over the flight. Sure enough, it buzzed incessantly in his pocket as he made his way off the plane.

Dream pulled it back out as he made it out of the crowd of people around his gate, tapping into his contacts and pressing the call button next to George’s name.

It rang only once before George picked up.

“I assume you’ve landed, then?” George asked, his voice fuzzy. The cell service here was horrendous, what with thousands of people attempting to use it at the same time. Dream was slightly surprised George even _had_ cell service- roaming data was expensive as hell.

“Yep, just got in.” He double checked his directions and made a beeline for the baggage claim. “Did you get a rental car or something?”

“I did, but you are _absolutely_ driving back to the hotel. Driving on the wrong side of the road was scary enough, but I’m not sure what kind of drugs the entirety of this city is on- the drivers here are ridiculous.”

Dream snorted. “Oh, yeah. Massachusetts drivers are infamous.”

George hummed his displeasure. “It was the worst twenty minutes of my life, Clay. Not even being dramatic.”

He smiled. He could imagine the pure panic on George’s face while driving. He wasn’t too fond of the idea of driving through Boston either, but he’d manage. “I’ll be at the baggage claim in a few minutes. Can you meet me there?”

“Yeah, I was there last night- er, this morning, I guess. I should be able to figure it out.”

“Did you drive here jetlagged _and_ on the wrong side of the road for the first time? Jesus, Gogy, do you have a death wish?”

“Oh, shut up,” George replied, but Dream could hear the smile in his voice.

“See you in a few.” Dream had a stupid grin on his face when he hung up. He forced it away.

The baggage claim was crowded, so Dream found a spot off to the side to lean up against a pillar and stare at the mechanical belt, waiting for it to move. He was definitely not a patient person, and travelling via airport tested every fiber of patience he had. His jitters from the coffee, his anxiety about meeting George, and his general restlessness was turning him into a fidgety mess. He scrolled through Twitter to pass the time.

The belt began to move, dumping out his flight’s luggage. His suitcase, luckily, was one of the first out. He ducked through a flock of touristy families to grab his luggage and headed for the doors as quickly as he could. He was just about one hundred percent done with people for the day. He was exhausted.

His eyes caught on a familiar face, and he let out a breath of disbelief. Or maybe relief. He couldn’t tell.

George was standing at the baggage claim exit, scanning the room with his eyes in a squint. He kept glancing down at his phone, like he wasn’t sure he was in the right place- Dream realized in an instant that George probably had one of his many screenshotted Dream selfies pulled up, and was cross-checking everyone in the room with his picture.

Dream grinned and quietly lost himself in the crowd, making his way around to the other side of the room. He came up to the exit from the opposite direction of where George was facing and- though it was hard to be stealthy with a suitcase- he dashed up behind George and grabbed his shoulder with a free hand.

George screamed- literally _shrieked-_ in fear. The entire population of the baggage claim turned to look. George whirled around, hands up in a poor self-defense. He took in who had scared him, and it looked like he ran through the entire five stages of grief in that instant. Dream burst out laughing, holding his stomach.

George punched him in the shoulder, fuming. “ _Fuck_ you, Clay, you scared the shit out of me!”

“Your fault for-” Dream had to stop, he was laughing so hard- “Your fault for using your phone to look for me like an IRL Where’s Waldo game, idiot.”

The anger and surprise cleared out of George’s face in an instant, replaced by such unabashed joy and warmth that it made Dream shiver. “God, it’s good to finally see you.”

“You’re damn right it is. Come here,” Dream said, setting his suitcase down and pulling George into a hug. George let out a happy sigh and squeezed Dream tight enough it hurt his rib cage, but he didn’t really mind. He couldn’t keep a smile off of his face. “I can’t believe you still don’t know what I look like.”

George pulled away, feigning irritation. Dream felt a twinge of regret that the hug had ended so soon- and immediately buried it, because that was weird, and they were also in an airport baggage claim surrounded by at least a hundred people.

“It’s not that I didn’t know, I just didn’t want to miss you!” He fumed. “How could you even tell?”

“It was really obvious,” Dream replied honestly. “But you’re cute when you’re confused, so I just wanted to make you suffer a little more for my own enjoyment.”

George flushed bright red. “Sadist.”

Dream smirked. “Yeah, probably. Shall we?” He retrieved his suitcase and started off towards the parking lots.

“Why are you leading? You don’t even know where the car is,” George complained.

“Oh, come on, George. I always lead.” He winked exaggeratedly back at George for that line, earning himself a kick in the shin.

They made small talk about the flight on the way to the car, and Dream felt the anxiety that had been pushing against his chest slowly lessen. At the end of the day, it was still his George. He didn’t have to worry about feeling comfortable. All he had to do for the week was keep his idiot lonely heart in check, and he’d be all clear.

Dream plugged his phone in as he worked on adjusting his seat, partially because his phone was almost dead, but mostly because he wanted to listen to music for the drive. He was physically unable to drive without music.

  
When he started the car, the music that had already been playing on his phone restarted. He remembered with a jolt that he’d paused the song that made him think of-

“Oh, I like this band,” George said. He tapped the button to restart the song.

“Really?” Dream asked, legitimately surprised. “They’re pretty niche. They only have, like, three songs.”

“The music video for one of their songs was cool. That’s the only reason I know about them,” George explained.

“Same, actually,” Dream admitted. He put the car into drive, biting the inside of his cheek again. He wondered what George thought about when he heard this song, and then kicked himself mentally for thinking about it.

George hummed along to the music, and Dream couldn’t help but steal little glances at him as they drove along. He knew he was going to make himself crazy thinking about it, but he couldn’t help it.

Was he absolutely desperate? Yeah. He’d been alone for such a long time, struggling to even find local Tinder dates or any sort of real satisfaction, finding all of his positive romantic affection through George. It definitely wasn’t healthy for him, but he couldn’t stop himself from entertaining the idea that something- anything, really- was possible between the two of them.

You know, even though they lived an ocean apart from each other.

But he was _here_. Right here, next to him in this weird smelly rental car. All the thoughts that seemed unrealistic now seemed a lot more possible, and a lot more scary.

He focused on the road. He couldn’t think about it. He wouldn’t.

  
They made it to the hotel without any incident. Thankfully, the Boston traffic decided to take it easy on them that day. The hotel was relatively empty- Pax didn’t start for another two days. They’d gotten there early to give everyone a chance to adjust to the jet lag a little, as well as save some time for inevitable partying.

Dream gave the keys to the valet, and the two of them headed inside. They’d ended up with a connecting room, just down the hall from Sapnap and Bad’s connecting room. Dream checked in at the front desk, and they headed upstairs.

George was quiet as they rode up in the elevator. He looked absolutely exhausted. Dream forgot that it was the middle of the night for him back at home, even if it was only about seven in Boston.

Dream was tired, but in the way that he wanted to curl up in bed and watch TV and not think about anything. He didn’t feel like being around people, but George was the exception. He wanted nothing more than to get some probably gross room service and watch bad movies with his friend.

“I might just pass out as soon as I lay down,” George sighed, scrubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand absent-mindedly.

Dream elbowed him. “Absolutely not. You need to get adjusted to the time zone.”

George groaned and drooped, falling against Dream’s shoulder. Dream felt a tingle in his spine as George wrapped his arms around Dream’s arm, snuggling up to him like a koala. “I’m sleepy.”

Dream laughed and ruffled his hair with his free hand. “You can stay in my room for an hour or two and then go sleep in your own, that way I can keep you up.” George grumbled something unintelligible. “I’ll even get you food,” he said, persistent. George perked up at that. Dream wondered if he’d even remembered to eat dinner.

George hung off of Dream’s arm the entire way to Dream’s room, feeling like an extra piece of luggage. He couldn’t get himself to complain, though. Every time George’s hand brushed against his own, his heart did a tap dance routine.

He ended up having to shake off George so that he could open his door with everything he was carrying. He let out a sigh of relief as he made it inside, shutting the door behind him. He threw his stuff down on the floor, tossed the room service menu at George, and disappeared into the bathroom to take a quick shower. He felt disgusting from the airport.

“What do you want me to order you?” George called from outside the door.

“Don’t care. Surprise me.”

George snickered evilly, and Dream momentarily regretted his decision- but he knew that being mischievous would probably keep George awake, so he let him do his thing anyway.

The hot water washed the rest of his worries down the drain. He turned the water up to boiling, soothing his aches from falling asleep on the pain and quieting his mind. He only stopped when the bathroom started to fill up with steam.

He remembered irritably that he’d forgotten to grab a change of clothes when heading into the bathroom, so he dried himself off as best he could and wrapped his waist with a towel. He cracked the door open, glad the heat could disguise how bright red his face was turning.

“George, I forgot to get clothes. I’m coming out.”

“Good for you. I’m proud.” George was lying in bed, scrolling on his phone. “So you’re gay? Bisexual?”

“Bisexual, and you’re an idiot.” Dream replied. “Don’t look or you’re a pervert.”

George glanced up. “Guess I’m a pervert.”

Dream picked up a pillow off of the bed as he leaned down to open his suitcase and chucked it at George’s head. George laughed, catching the pillow and tucking it under his arms. He went back to his phone, though Dream could’ve sworn he caught him looking a few times.

Dream retreated back into the bathroom, comfortable clothes safely in hand. He leaned back against the door, feeling a little overwhelmed. Flirting was so much more intimidating in person.

Also, wait. Did he just _come out_ to George? By _accident_?

He buried his face in his hands and tried not to scream at his own stupidity.

He got dressed quickly, checking his absolute mess of a hairdo in the mirror. Deciding there really wasn’t much left for him to do to improve his appearance, he shamefully left the bathroom.

He flopped down on the bed next to George, who turned off his phone to look down at him. Dream raised his eyebrows at George’s blatant staring. “Can I help you?”

“Are you actually bisexual?”

Dream turned bright red. “I am.”

“Why didn’t you tell me, idiot?” It wasn’t the response he’d been expecting, and Dream nearly drew backwards in shock. George punched his arm- same one as last time, it was starting to hurt- and grinned bright enough to light up the room.

The relief in every inch of Dream’s body was palpable. “It just never came up in conversation, I guess.”

“Well, it should’ve.” George scowled. “It would’ve made things easier for me.”

Dream frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I’m gay, Clay.”

Dream paused for a second, then snickered. “Gay, Clay,” he parroted.

George shoved the pillow back in his face. “Shut up, oh my God! I was trying to be serious.”

“You’re a poet and you don’t even know it!” Dream cackled, pushing George off of him easily. George yelled and threw himself on top of Dream, holding him down with his entire body weight. Not that it mattered, because Dream was a _lot_ stronger than George. He grabbed George’s arms and flipped him, pinning him to the mattress.

They were both laughing breathlessly, but the laughter died quickly when they realized the precarious position Dream had unintentionally put them in. Dream had George’s wrists in his hands, locking his arms in place. His knee had found its way between George’s thighs. George’s face flushed a tomato-esque shade of red as he attempted to escape, but gave up quickly.

“Clay,” George murmured, and Dream’s entire body shuddered. _Chills, running through my body, baby._ The lyrics pulsed in his head.  
  
He was dangling on the edge of giving in. Following the urge, the shivers, even if he knew it was totally wrong.

There was a knock at the door.

“The room service,” Dream said, rolling off of George. “Sorry, I’ll get it.” He crawled out of bed and hurried for the door, his entire body burning, hoping he didn’t look too disheveled.

He took the armful of trays of food George had ordered from the meal cart and thanked the maid profusely. He busied himself attempting to sort the plates out on the desk, avoiding glancing in George’s direction at all.

“Here, you can take whatever you want. I have no idea what you ordered, anyway.” There was a plate of nachos, something that looked like a chicken sandwich, and a handful of other appetizer-esque plates and fried things Dream couldn’t be bothered to identify.

“Uh… yeah, sure.” George got out of bed and wandered over to his side. Dream could feel him standing there, like there was an electric current simmering in the air around him.

He kicked himself mentally as he took the plate of nachos and a handful of napkins to sit on the end of his bed and eat. Wrestling with George- what was he, twelve? He’d totally ruined the mood.

George seemed unbothered as he sat next to Dream and took a nacho off of his plate. “I don’t know if I’ll survive a whole movie. I’m so tired.”

“Well, you have to. I don’t want you to be jet lagged this whole trip.”

George whined and buried his face into Dream’s shoulder. “You’re so mean, Clay.”

Dream laughed. “I know.” He turned on the tv, not really caring what came on. He was too focused on the feeling of George wriggling closer to him and curling up against his body, his food mostly ignored.

George had definitely over-ordered. They made it through the nachos and half of one of the other appetizers before totally giving up and sticking the leftovers in the room’s mini fridge. Full and even more tired than before, Dream found a comfortable position at the head of the bed, trying to ignore the fact that George was attached to him like a monkey in a tree.

An hour or two passed, with Dream occasionally poking George or making comments about the movie to keep him awake. George ended up half-asleep on Dream’s chest, not even pretending to pay attention to what was on.

“You’re really snuggly when you’re tired, huh?” Dream asked softly, while the credits rolled in the background.

“Mmhm,” George replied.

“You should go back to your own room now,” he murmured, even though he selfishly wanted to keep him here for as long as possible.

“No thanks,” George said, yawning. “I only get a week with you, stupid. I’m not leaving for the whole trip.”

A quiet warmth crawled its way into Dream’s chest, settling under his ribs and spreading to every inch of his body. It was likely just his tired brain messing with him, but he couldn’t get himself to suppress his feelings like he normally did.

“Aren’t you uncomfortable?” Dream managed, even though his lungs felt tight. “Wearing normal clothes?”

George didn’t reply, and Dream realized with a jolt that he’d already fallen asleep.

He felt awful. Dirty and horribly selfish. George had no idea how he was feeling, what he was thinking. He was taking advantage of his kind, unaware, clingy-when-tired friend.

Gently, he pushed George’s arms off of him, and settled him underneath the comforter. He gave him a pillow to hold onto, so he wouldn’t notice Dream’s absence.

Dream rolled over to the other side of the bed and closed his eyes. It was cold.

He laid awake until the time on the clock by his head blurred in his vision, and fell into a restless sleep.


	2. part two - george

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which George and Dream spend the morning together.

When George woke up, he was alone.

He was groggy for a moment, blinking into the cruel light of the sun shining through the curtains that hadn’t been shut the night before. For a moment, his head felt fuzzy- where was he again? What was this?

He sat up and rubbed at his eyes, remembering. His hotel room- no, Dream’s hotel room. He’d fallen asleep next to Dream while they were watching television.

Well, more accurately he’d fallen asleep  _ on _ Dream, but he didn’t really feel like making that distinction. It would force him to think about the consequences of that choice, which he wasn’t mentally capable of doing without caffeine in his system.

He looked around the room and was instantly confused. Dream wasn’t there. The bathroom door was wide open and the light inside was shut off- had Dream ditched him in his own hotel room?

George picked up his phone off of the bedside table- he hadn’t had the foresight to turn it off before he crashed, so it was nearly dead. There was a text from Dream waiting for him when he woke up.

**_Clay:_** _Couldn’t sleep, went to get coffee. Let me know when you’re up, we can meet up for breakfast before Sapnap’s flight gets in_

He sighed and leaned on his hand. He had a sinking feeling his actions last night had pissed Dream off.

He couldn’t help himself. Dream was, ironically, his dream type of guy. They’d always been close, but when their friendship progressed into the mock flirtatious banter they had now, he’d been ridiculously excited. Being in the closet had been a miserable experience for him so far- even though he knew everyone would be totally fine with it- so an excuse to act a little bit gay in public without being afraid of backlash was fun.

But he was starting to think he’d taken it a bit far, snuggling up to him all night. He’d seen the look on Dream’s face when he’d pinned George to the bed- like a deer in the headlights. He looked terrified, regretful, anxious- literally anything  _ but _ happy or flirtatious. Not exactly a green light for George.

He’d be replaying that moment in his head for a month anyway. The pressure of Dream’s hands holding down his wrists, the feeling of his body being crushed into the comforter…

George shook his head and tried to focus on the moment at hand. Thinking about it was only going to make it worse.

He decided to reply.

**_You:_ ** _ Hey, I’m up _

**_You:_ ** _ I thought you’d been kidnapped D: _

**_Clay:_ ** _ Oh, the zombie rises! Excellent _

**_Clay:_ ** _ You should probably go get changed in your own room if you haven’t already, I’ll be up in a few minutes _

**_You:_ ** _ Omw, sorry, I know I smell bad _

**_Clay:_ ** _ What? No, you smell like roses ;) _

**_You:_ ** _ Must be ur mom’s perfume _

**_Clay:_ ** _ Too far _

**_You:_ ** _ See you in a bit :> _

George put his phone away with a decidedly dramatic sigh. He didn’t seem too mad after all, but he still knew he’d have to tiptoe around him all day to gauge how he was feeling. So much for making a stellar first impression.

He collected his things- which was literally just his phone, and a sweatshirt he’d haphazardly ditched at some point last night- and headed back to his own room.

He elected not to shower, since he’d done so right before he’d picked up Dream the night before and didn’t feel like walking out into the freezing New England air with a damp head. He changed into a different outfit, not really caring about his appearance- it wasn’t like a whole lot of people would recognize him, anyway- and went to brush his teeth.

He looked- and felt- like shit. He hadn’t slept great last night, and his exhaustion still weighed on his bones like a lead blanket. That, combined with his embarrassment from his messy attempts at flirtation the night before, was enough to make him feel like- as Dream so artfully put it- a zombie.

He was mid teeth-brushing when his phone buzzed.  _ Snapchat from Dream _ . He opened it, making an attempt to suppress the small smile that always rose to his face when Dream messaged him.

It was a selfie of him, outside in the cold, drinking a steaming cup of coffee from the hotel’s resident Starbucks. His cheeks were stained pink from the freezing air, and his eyes betrayed just how little sleep he’d gotten- he had massive bags under his eyes. He still looked pretty anyway. It was captioned  _ Good morning _ and George wondered how many other people he sent it to.

He screenshotted it anyway.

He replied with his own half-assed mirror selfie, his toothbrush hanging out of his mouth as he attempted to smile. He looked like trash, but the notification  _ Dream screenshotted your Snap! _ appeared an instant later. He shook his head and smiled wryly, setting his phone down on the counter.

There was a knock on his door a few minutes later, and George made a lazy attempt to kick the pile of dirty laundry he’d left in the middle of his floor out of the way before opening it. Dream stood outside, looking extremely chilly. His face was still red.

“I hate it here,” was the first thing he said, getting straight to the point. “It’s so fucking cold.”

“You’re a silly Floridian,” George replied. “But I’ll grab a jacket anyway.”

“Good, ‘cause we’re walking to this diner I found. I need the exercise.” Dream took one last sip of his coffee, which was evidently near empty, and stepped past George to throw it into his bathroom’s trash can. “Also because Boston scares me, and I don’t want to be in a car.”

“I’m with you there,” George replied, grabbing his jacket from where he’d hung it up next to his door after checking in the previous day. “Let’s go. I’m starving for some greasy American food.”

“Snob.”

“Grease muncher.”

They walked to the elevators in comfortable silence, and George felt the anxiety clogging up his chest start to break apart like an ice floe. It seemed like Dream hadn’t taken offense to his actions. He had a shot to start over, with a clear head and a full night of sleep.

The hotel was nearly empty. George hadn’t realized what time it was. His phone clock read 7:23, and he cringed at the fact that he’d woken up this early. He was a sleep-until-ten-at-the-earliest kind of guy, and the whole jet lag thing was really throwing him off.

He glanced over at Dream, who was staring off into the middle distance like his brain was lagging a minute behind his body. George poked him, jolting him out of his trance.

“What time did you wake up?” George asked.

Dream turned a bit red. “A little too early. Had trouble sleeping last night.”

“Probably my fault for falling asleep in your bed,” George said, his skin prickling with embarrassment again. “Sorry.”

“No, don’t worry about it,” Dream replied, but there was some unspoken tension in his face that made George’s stomach drop. He shouldn’t have even mentioned it. He was being stupid, again.

The hotel they were staying in was only a few blocks away from the convention center. There was a pretty decent number of restaurants nearby, as a result. This entire section of the city, down by the waterfront, looked clean and brand new, with the sun sparkling off of the sides of the skyscrapers.

George would’ve appreciated it more if it weren’t for the icy winds funneled through every street by the tall buildings around them. He drew his jacket tighter around himself as they walked, wishing he’d had the foresight to bring a little bit more warm clothes. He hadn’t expected it to be this cold in March- clearly he needed to read up on his American weather a bit more.

Dream looked absolutely miserable in the cold. He scrunched down into his jacket- which was totally too thin for this kind of weather, but George was willing to bet that was the thickest one he owned- like it would help in any way. It just made him look like a turtle.

“Do you not have a real jacket?” George finally asked, sick of watching him shiver as they walked down the street.

“I live in Florida,” he replied, his voice muffled by the collar of his glorified windbreaker. “I don’t need a real jacket.”

“Well, you’re going to need one this week.” George smiled. “How about after we get breakfast, we go shopping?”

“Sapnap’s flight gets in this morning,” Dream protested.

“He doesn’t get in until noon, and it took you a half hour to get out of the airport yesterday. We have plenty of time.”

Dream made a face, but sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. There are some stores around, I’m sure we can find one.”

“Watching you shiver is making me feel even colder,” George complained.

“Sorry for my cold-blooded-ness,” Dream replied dryly.

The diner was crowded when they finally arrived, but it was warm inside and brought the feeling back into George’s extremities. Luckily, since the majority of the people waiting were families, there was a tiny table for two available in the corner.

George took off his jacket and hung it off the back of his chair, but Dream stayed bundled up even after a waitress left them menus and took their coffee orders. George stifled a laugh at Dream’s disgruntled expression.

“Enjoying the weather?” He asked, snickering.

Dream rolled his eyes. “Clearly. How are you not an icicle?”   
  


“I’m just hot,” George replied, grinning. He couldn’t tell if Dream’s pink cheeks were still from the cold or from a building blush. “No, but seriously, I stay warm pretty well. Feel my hands.” He held out a hand over the table.

Dream raised his eyebrows, but reached out and took George’s hand in his own. His fingers were like ice to the touch, and George shivered. Dream’s eyes widened. “How are your hands so warm?” He asked, incredulous.

“I put them in my pockets,” George replied.

Dream scowled. “I wish that worked for me.”

“Well, you can hold my hands to warm up whenever you like,” George replied without thinking. He immediately blanched, feeling like an idiot. He couldn’t even follow his own advice.

To his pleasant surprise, however, Dream smiled and squeezed his hand. “Maybe I’ll take you up on that.”

Warmth spread through George from his head to his toes, and he suddenly didn’t feel the lingering cold anymore.

Dream mumbled something about warming up and kept George’s fingers laced through his own while they scanned through the menu. George made a fair attempt to try and choose a meal, but every time Dream readjusted his grip, it made his brain cease to function for a minute.

He finally gave up. “I have no idea what most of this is.”

Dream laughed behind his menu. “Do you want me to pick something for you?”

“Yes please,” George said, sighing with exasperation. “Like, what’s a chicken fried steak? Who fries steak?”

Dream shook his head. “Clearly you have much to learn.”

“I’ve learned plenty. America is weird.”

“You’re not wrong.”

The waitress came back with their coffees, forcing George to reluctantly let go of Dream’s hand to drink it. He wasn’t usually a coffee person, but he was exhausted. The caffeine would do him some good.

Dream ordered him some random egg-based thing he’d vaguely heard of before, smiling in the most genuine way at the waitress the entire time. George mused for a moment that if the fans knew how bright his smile was, they’d never shut up about it. Kind of like George already did.

After she walked away, Dream’s smile faded, and his expression was hard to read. George considered himself pretty decent at judging how people were feeling, especially his close friends. Dream, however, had a far-off gaze in his eyes that seemed to simultaneously contain every emotion at once, but also none at all.

“Are you feeling okay?” George decided to ask, eyeing Dream carefully.

Dream shook himself out of his daze and managed a smile. “Sorry. I never sleep great the first night in a new place, you know?”

“Yeah, I feel you there.” George took a sip of coffee, wincing as it burned his throat going down. “If I hadn’t been so overtired, I probably wouldn’t have slept either.”

Dream grinned. “You were definitely out cold. You were drooling and everything-”

“Shut up, oh my God,” George grumbled, whacking Dream’s arm where it rested on the table. “Don’t bully me.”

“I live to bully you, George,” Dream replied, fluttering his eyelashes. It earned him another slap on the wrist.

George felt toasty inside and out, and he didn’t think it was just from the coffee or the sweltering air inside of the diner. Being around Dream like this was so plainly fulfilling it felt like he’d been waiting for this all his life. He swirled around the spoon in his coffee and tried not to stare at Dream with the pure adoration that was quickly rising in him. Even if his friend wasn’t feeling the same, he’d enjoy every minute of his time here.

A quick bitter chill gusted through his heart as he thought of leaving, and he forced himself to stamp it down. He couldn’t focus on the negative- he’d spend the whole week wallowing instead of enjoying himself.

Dream poked his hand. “Your turn to space out now, huh?”

George laughed. “Man, we’re bad at this.”

Dream let his fingers rest cautiously over George’s. They were, somehow, still cold. George reached out and took hold of his hand again, his ears burning. He couldn’t get himself to look up, even though he could feel Dream’s eyes.

“You’re a really affectionate person,” Dream noted, sounding more analytical than fond.

“I am,” George managed, feeling suddenly like his chest was collapsing.

Dream was quiet, then he brushed his thumb over George’s knuckles. “I like it. It’s been a long time since I’ve had someone to be comfortable with like this.”

George managed to half-suppress a rising blush as he glanced up at Dream again. “Really? You? You’re like an eight out of ten on a bad day.”

Dream laughed, loud and warm. “Gee, thanks. Yeah, dating is just hard for me.”

George nodded sadly. “I tried Grindr for five minutes and nearly smashed up my phone.”

“You made a  _ Grindr _ ?” Dream cackled. “Oh my God, I can already see the Twitter tagline. ‘Minecraft YouTuber GeorgeNotFound is found on Grindr by a fan in Brighton-”

“Ahh, shut up!” George said, waving his hand in front of his face like he could clear his own embarrassment out of the air. “I was desperate.”

“But Gogy, why be desperate when you have me?” Dream replied. George raised an eyebrow at him, watching as Dream’s expression instantly snapped into oh-shit-what-did-I-just-say mode. He covered it quickly with a smile, but George didn’t miss the way he shivered like he was hiding a cringe at his own words.

“You got me there,” George said easily, trying his best to gauge Dream’s expression. “How could I forget about my Minecraft boyfriend?”

Dream choked on air, covering his face with his coffee mug. George snickered at his flustered expression. Dream in-person was a lot less suave and smooth than his virtual personality. George was glad he could see this side of him, too- he liked it a lot better.

He could physically see the wheels in Dream’s head turning as he tried to come up with some sort of reply. George suddenly had a mental image that the two of them were toeing some kind of line, trying to decide if it was worth crossing. Reaching to see if that other side was worth it.

“How could you indeed,” Dream finally said, choosing a safe option of word choice. “You’d choose a Brit over me? I’m offended.”

“Hey,  _ I’m _ a Brit,” George protested.

“Exactly. I barely tolerate you.”

“Clay!”

The conversation waded into safer waters after that little back-and-forth incident. George found himself feeling a little disappointed, but he also reminded himself that Dream flirted with him jokingly. The way he immediately shut down when faced with a little bit too much flirting was obvious- he just didn’t like it when the jokes went far enough to insinuate there was actually something between them.

It was hard to accept- especially with Dream’s fingers laced through his. He had to do it anyway. If he pushed too far out of Dream’s comfort zone, he could lose him entirely.

Their food came soon after. Dream had ordered him some kind of specialty omelette with potatoes on the side, which was actually quite delicious. George found himself enjoying the insanely large plate of diner food, despite making at least a dozen comments about how ridiculous the portion size was. Dream assured him that he didn’t have to finish it if he didn’t want to, but he ate the majority of it anyway.

They argued for a few minutes over who would pay for the bill, before George finally gave in but agreed to pay for dinner that night. It felt incredibly- and awkwardly- domestic, and as George watched Dream sign the check, he thought it wouldn’t be too hard to imagine they were on a normal first date.

He shut down that line of thinking pretty quickly. Better not to linger.

Dream started shivering again as soon as they hit the chill air outside. Breakfast had only taken an hour, leaving them with about three hours left until they had to get to the airport to pick up Sapnap. Bad’s flight got in an hour after Sapnap’s, so they’d probably end up waiting for him too.

Dream was obviously freezing, and forced George into the first clothing store they saw. It ended up being some kind of bougie designer apparel place that looked way too expensive to be worth it, but George decided it was worth a shot anyway.

The only coats they had were pretty ridiculous. George forced Dream to try on a couple of them, just for his own entertainment. The majority of the coats in the store were obviously for women, and George got a kick out of seeing Dream try on the knee-length fur monsters that they offered.

They eventually decided that nothing in the store was Dream’s style at all, and ditched once Dream was sufficiently warmed up.

The next store was smaller and definitely more their speed. It was more of a modern alt fashion type vibe, which was still a little pricey, but at least the jackets didn’t look like dead animals on hangars. Dream spent a ridiculous amount of time digging through the store’s minimal options, making comments about how he really needed new clothes and all of this fashion stuff was beyond him.

George was only half paying attention to Dream while he rambled about fabric types when a group of girls walked in.

Normally he would pay exactly zero attention to other people, but this particular group was fully decked out in YouTuber merch- more specifically, two of the four were wearing Dream hoodies underneath their unzipped jackets. George’s eyes widened in surprise, and he grabbed Dream by the arm and dragged him towards the back of the store.

“What the hell are you doing?” Dream asked, still clutching one of the jackets in his hands.

“A couple of your fans just walked in,” George hissed. “If they see you with me, they’ll realize who you are.”

Dream glanced back at the front of the store, took in the group of girls, and followed George without a second complaint.

George dragged him into one of the fitting room stalls, locking the door behind them.

“So, what, are we just going to sit in here until they leave?” Dream grumbled. “We could just walk out separately.”

“I mean yeah, I guess-” George cut himself off. “Hang on, how were you planning on handling Pax this weekend? Being out in public around our group would make it  _ very _ obvious who you are.”

Dream’s face went blank. “That is definitely a good point.” George bit his lip, trying to keep himself from bursting out laughing. Dream cracked a smile. “I guess I’ll just keep my distance when fans come by.”

“Up to you, I suppose,” George replied. Now that the moment of adrenaline had worn off, he was starting to realize the situation they were in.

The fitting room was tiny. Like, definitely not built for more than one person and even that one person would struggle to change tiny. He supposed it was an issue of city real estate and conserving space, but in that moment he was more thinking about the way Dream’s body was pressed against his own.

Dream shifted, trying to give George a little more space, and George felt chills rush down his spine at the contact. God, he really was desperate. Watching Dream’s flushed face and wild eyes as he tried to take in everything that was going on was really doing it for him.

“I’m sorry,” George mumbled, trying to edge himself away. “Didn’t realize how small these were.”

“You know, I don’t actually have to hide,” Dream said, his voice sounding a little off. “I could just walk out there right now, and none of those girls would know who I am.”

“You could,” George agreed, wishing he could take the sting of regret out of his voice.

“I could,” Dream repeated, but his eyes weren’t on the door.

George was struggling to form coherent thoughts, the feeling of Dream’s breath on his face and the warm pulse of his heartbeat speeding up to a rabbit’s pace in his chest entirely too much for him to process. If this was a real date, maybe Dream would pin him against the wall, reach down and kiss him until he couldn’t breathe.

But this was Clay. Not Dream, the man who George loved to flirt with over Discord calls in the wee hours of morning. This was a real person, who had his own thoughts and feelings, and was currently looking at George with an expression like a shattered mirror. There were so many emotions in his eyes it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

George finally closed his eyes. Whatever Dream was thinking, he wasn’t going to kiss him. He wasn’t going to do anything. Whatever his reasoning was, George was fine with it. He wouldn’t force himself onto his best friend.

George gently nudged Dream out of the way to crack open the door of the changing stall. The girls had, evidently, decided the store was uninteresting. All of them were gone.

He stepped past Dream and left the stall.

If he heard the heavy breathing of Dream behind him, still struck by the intensity of the moment, he pretended not to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy holidays! my gift to you is updating this aggressively early because i am absolutely hyperfixating on this story right now!
> 
> i can't express how grateful i am for all of the kind comments and the massive amounts of kudos i got on the previous chapter. thank you so so so so much for all of your support. this is my first fanfiction in quite a while, so it's a little bit of a mess, but i'm really glad everyone is enjoying it so far.
> 
> i'm sorry this chapter is a little bit angsty!! i know it's probably really irritating to watch these two run circles around each other. i promise the pining won't go on for too much longer. i initially wanted this chapter to include the entirety of day two of the trip, but i thought the stall scene was a good place to end it, so part three will finish off day two!
> 
> again, thank you for reading. means the world to me, honestly. i'm only updating this as soon as i am because all of your lovely comments really inspired me to write more. love you guys so much!!


	3. part three - dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Dream contemplates his messy feelings.

George didn’t say much to Dream after the incident.

Dream hovered in the changing room for a moment longer, trying to catch his breath. He’d stumbled out after George a moment later, trying to think of something- anything, really- to say to him. The disappointed look in George’s eyes was making his heart crumble into a million shards.

But he couldn’t find the right thing to say.

George stood by him silently as he purchased his new jacket and put it on, putting his old windbreaker in the bag he’d been given. He walked next to Dream the whole way back without saying a word, feeling every bit like a void had been ripped into the air next to him.

Dream was struggling to think about it. How George’s cheeks had turned red, how his breath had quickened, how he’d searched Dream’s eyes like he was looking for a solution to some unsolvable riddle.

Whatever he’d been looking for, clearly he hadn’t found it.

His whole chest ached whenever he side-eye glanced at George. He felt unstable in the worst kind of way. He couldn’t be sure of how George was feeling- and as long as he was unsure, he wouldn’t be able to get himself to do anything.

Had that even been disappointment in George’s eyes, or had it been discomfort?

He felt guilty. Next level guilty.

The ride to the airport was equally silent. It felt like the air was simmering between them, and it was making Dream miserable. He wanted to apologize, or explain himself, or  _ anything _ .

When they parked, neither of them got out of the car at first. They had a bit of time to kill, anyway. The air was claustrophobic and almost sticky. Dream was suddenly finding it hard to breathe.

George finally sighed, and looked over at Dream. “I’m not mad, if that’s why you look like you’re attempting to swallow glass right now.”

Dream looked over at him, feeling a bit taken off-guard. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make things awkward.”

“You didn’t,” George assured him, though there was a hint of some undefinable emotion lacing the words. “It was just a weird situation. No worries.”

He wanted to speak, but the words choked up in his throat.  _ I wanted to kiss you. I’m sorry I didn’t. I’m sorry I’m like this. _

“You’re probably right about needing to think Pax through a little more,” he said, not even really hearing his own words. “Maybe I’ll just lurk twenty feet away from you like a stalker the whole time.”

George actually laughed at that, and some of the tension between them melted. He felt a buzz of relief in his chest. “We should make you a cardboard mask,” George replied with an edge of sarcasm.

“I’ll wear my signature hoodie and everything,” Dream deadpanned.

George nodded sagely. “Definitely. It’ll really be a look.”

Dream checked his phone. It was noon- any minute now they’d be getting a text from Sapnap. George seemed to be following his same line of thinking, because he moved to get out of the car.

Without really thinking, Dream reached out and grabbed George’s wrist. The other man’s head snapped back around to look at him.

“I’m sorry,” Dream said, not really knowing if he should- or could- clarify what for.

George seemed to understand anyway. He stopped for a moment and reached out with his other hand, covering Dream’s hand on his arm with his own.

He felt those  _ chills _ again- he couldn’t help it- as George slipped his hand into the gaps of Dream’s fingers.

“I know,” was all George said.

There was a spark between them, just like that moment last night. The air was thick and electric. George’s eyes were unreadable.

Then Dream’s phone buzzed, and the moment died.

**_Nick:_ ** _ Plane just landed! Please don’t leave me stranded _

Dream picked up his phone to reply, pretending not to hear George’s poorly muffled sigh of dejection.

**_You:_ ** _ We’re already here, meet you at the baggage claim _

George pulled away from Dream and got out of the car.

Dream ran a hand through his hair and let out a shuddering breath.  _ God, this was gonna be a rough week. _

“I’m excited,” George commented as Dream caught up to him. “The Dream Team, finally united.”

“Me too,” Dream said, grateful the conversation had moved into more stable territory. If they lingered too long on trying to wade through their feelings, Dream thought he might just melt into a puddle and seep into the cracks in the sidewalk. “I’ve been wanting to meet all of you for such a long time. This is all so surreal.”

George hummed in agreement. Dream found it awfully hard to resist the urge to take hold of George’s hand as they walked through the icy-cold parking garage.  _ You can hold my hands to warm up whenever you like. _ Why had George even said that?

His head felt disconnected from his body as they entered the airport, even as he made some remark about how ridiculous the temperature was and George replied with a compliment directed at his new jacket. He tried to force himself to stay present- for George’s sake more than his own- but it was incredibly difficult. He felt like he had left every sensible thought in his head behind in Florida.

George, clearly picking up on the fact that Dream wasn’t much for conversation at the moment, picked a wall to lean up against and went on his phone. Dream stayed on alert- well, as alert as he could be- looking for Sapnap’s familiar face in the crowd of passengers entering the baggage claim.

Sapnap spotted them first. He came running over to them, dragging his suitcase behind him, a massive grin on his face. He wrapped both of them in a hug, one under each arm, and Dream felt the tension bleed out of him.

“Oh, man, it is  _ so _ good to see you guys! Just you wait until I tell you about this insane lady I sat next to on my flight-” He shook his head excitedly. “Actually, food first. Then the story. It’s so weird seeing you both in person!”

George laughed brightly at Sapnap’s ramblings and patted him on the back. “Come on, let’s find lunch. We have time until Bad gets in.”

Sapnap was right- it was a little weird seeing people he’d only seen online for so long in person. It shouldn't even feel awkward with Sapnap- they'd been friends for so long- but it still gave Dream a moment of whiplash hearing his voice coming out of a real person and not a speaker.

They settled on a sandwich place that was close to the baggage claim and found a table nestled in the corner, out of view of most of the massive lobby. They weren’t  _ too _ popular, especially since nobody even knew what Dream looked like, so their odds of getting recognized weren’t insanely high, but none of them had the energy to deal with it anyway.

Dream mulled over the Pax situation in the back of his head while they waited for their food. George had a point. If he walked around with the Dream Team guys all day, especially at a gaming convention where a larger percentage of people would probably recognize the three of them on sight, someone would probably put two and two together and figure out Dream was Dream.

But he didn’t really want to spend the day walking around alone. He made up his mind that if anyone asked, he’d just be honest, and ask them not to share pictures of his face around.

Sapnap was full of manic energy from spending so long sitting still on his flight. He launched into a dramatic tale of the horrible Karen that had sat next to him, who spent the entire ride finding literally anything to complain about, including Sapnap himself. Apparently just being next to a man was a crime against humanity, and she needed to be moved to a different seat, since all men were perverts (“I’m quoting her directly here, I swear,” Sapnap clarified). The flight attendants were not impressed with her tirade. She was not moved, much to Sapnap’s irritation.

“Every time I  _ breathed _ the wrong way, this lady snapped at me,” Sapnap said mournfully. “I ended up having to curl up against the wall to give her enough space to feel ‘comfortable’.” He did air quotes as he said  _ comfortable _ .

“Americans,” George replied with sarcastic disdain.

“Oh, please, like you don’t have rude white women in England,” Dream deadpanned.

“We definitely do, but you guys patented the Karen,” George said, shrugging. A smile flickered across his face, like he was suppressing a laugh.

Their food arrived after a little while, and Sapnap attacked his panini like he hadn’t eaten in a week. Dream was just starting to get hungry again, but George picked at his sandwich with a clear lack of appetite. He didn’t look like he was in the best mood, and Dream felt another needle of guilt sink into his chest.

Sapnap picked up on it too. “You good, Gogy? You look like you’re in mourning.”

George shook his head quickly. “I’m fine. Still tired, I think.” It was an obvious lie, but Sapnap seemed to buy it. George glanced up at Dream, making eye contact. He flushed and looked back down at his plate, and Dream sighed and went back to eating.

The hour dragged by. Sapnap was fun to talk to, but Dream was finding it difficult to shake the cloud of dark thoughts that rumbled in the back of his head. He tried to keep his focus, but every second that ticked by made it harder and harder to stay present.

Sapnap finally set his phone down and let out an irritated huff. “Okay, I’m not stupid. Why do both of you seem so irritated today?” His expression soured. “Is it because of me?”

“No, of course not!” Dream assured him quickly.

“Like I said, I’m just tired,” George said.

Sapnap narrowed his eyes and looked back and forth between the two of them, then made a face. “What, did you guys hook up last night and it didn’t go well?”

Dream choked on air. “Why would you  _ say _ that?”

“Nick!” George exclaimed at the same time, shaking his head in disbelief.

Sapnap grinned. “Clearly that one struck a nerve.” He leaned on his hand. “Trouble in paradise?”

“You’re a dickhead,” George replied, his cheeks turning crimson.

“Seconded,” Dream added on.

Nick laughed and leaned back in his seat, still eyeing both of them. “Hey, I’m kidding. But I will say, I’m not digging the vibe here.” He gestured between them. “It’s killing my mood.”

“I’m sorry,” Dream said. He glanced at George when he said it, and the other man met his gaze. He looked back at Sapnap. “Nothing happened, we promise. Just tired.”

Sapnap didn’t look like he totally believed it, but he finally shrugged. “Alright, whatever you say.” His phone went off, and he glanced down at it. “Oh, Bad just got in! Thank God. I want  _ out _ of this airport.”

“Same,” Dream mumbled, feeling exhausted already. After the events of the morning, he kind of just wanted to go back to his room and bury his face in a pillow until he passed out.

God, it was only 1 PM. What a long day.

George led the way back to the baggage claim, but Sapnap lagged behind, tugging on Dream’s sleeve to get him to break off from their friend a bit. Dream shot him a confused look.

“Okay, level with me,” Sapnap said, leaning in so that Dream could hear him over the ruckus of the people swarming around them. “What happened?”   
  
“Nothing. I didn’t lie,” Dream said, feeling dishonest even though it was mostly true.

“Dude, I saw the way George looked at you.”

“I swear. I mean, there was a bit of an awkward situation involving a changing room, but-”

“I’m sorry,  _ what?” _ Sapnap asked, incredulous.

“Not important! Nothing happened. We’re not- he’s not like that. It’s not like that.” He wondered who he was trying to convince.

Sapnap shook his head a little bit, clearly in disbelief. “I figured you two would’ve been all over each other already.”

“Clearly you’ve misinterpreted our relationship,” Dream grumbled.

“Maybe,” he replied. “Either way, figure that shit out quick. I’m not spending this entire weekend watching you two make goo-goo eyes at each other. Bad and I will literally off ourselves.”

“Okay, fine,” Dream said.  _ Anything to end this painfully awkward conversation. _ He had never really talked about George with Sapnap, mainly because of his own comfort level with speaking his feelings out loud. Obviously he’d picked up a little bit more than Dream initially realized.

“Sorry. I hate to be that guy.” Sapnap elbowed him and tried a smile. “It’s really good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too,” Dream replied, smiling back. He couldn’t bring himself to be irritated with Sapnap for getting on his ass about the George thing. He was a naturally curious guy, especially when it came to his friends.

They caught up to George at the baggage claim, and something seemed to occur to Sapnap. “Hey, how are you gonna handle being around us at Pax?”

Dream pinched the bridge of his nose. George snickered at his obvious frustration. “I’ll figure it out.”

Sapnap smirked. “Evidently this conversation has been had before.”

“Evidently,” Dream deadpanned.

George saw Bad first, this time. The three of them waved in near unison as he looked around with confusion, attempting to locate his friends. The immediate grin on his face made all of them smile as he ran over to join them.

“Ahh! I’m so happy to see you guys!” Bad threw himself at all of them, giving each of them a bear hug. “Thanks for coming to pick me up!”

“Well, we got a rental car. Might as well,” Dream replied. “How was the flight?”

“It was boring,” Bad said, sighing. “But the sandwich I got at the last airport was pretty good, so it wasn’t awful.”

“Definitely a step up from my flight,” Sapnap replied, putting his arm around Bad’s shoulders as they left the baggage claim. “Let me tell you about this lady I sat next to…”

George and Dream walked ahead of the other two as they made their way back to the rental car, free from the burden of suitcases. The silence was less awkward with Bad and Sapnap chatting a few feet behind them. He didn’t miss George’s not-so-subtle glances in his direction, but he strategically ignored them.

God, was this really going to be the whole week? Dream felt like he was already going crazy. He’d hoped that seeing George would bring him some kind of great epiphany; maybe he’d finally realize just how he felt, or maybe George would dramatically confess his love and solve the entire thing.

This was not what he wanted at all.

George dibsed on shotgun, much to the others’ displeasure, but they eventually decided they’d just rotate through who got it. It wasn’t like they’d be spending a whole lot of time in the car, anyway.

They made it back to the hotel at around one o’clock, and Sapnap and Bad elected to take some time back at their own hotel rooms. Both of them wanted to shower, and Sapnap insisted he needed a nap to function. Bad promised to meet up with Dream and George in an hour to make afternoon plans.

The two of them went to the front desk to check in, leaving Dream and George alone by the elevator.

“So,” George said, clearly trying not to sound awkward, “want to hang out in your room while we wait?”

It took a lot of effort to hide his surprise at the question. Dream swallowed thickly. “Yeah, sure. Maybe we can start the sequel to that movie you definitely paid attention to last night.”

George rolled his eyes. “Sorry for being from a different continent.”

“You should be sorry,” Dream teased, elbowing him. George grinned back, and that warm, quiet  _ fondness _ worked its way through Dream’s bloodstream.

When they reached Dream’s room, George once again threw himself onto Dream’s bed like he owned the place, barely bothering to kick off his shoes before he did so. Dream picked up a pillow he’d knocked off the bed at some point last night and chucked it at George’s head, earning himself a barrage of pillows to the face.

Dream batted away the last cozy projectile and laid down next to George, giving himself a little bit of space between. He felt like whatever boundaries they were supposed to have were blurry. He couldn’t tell if he was allowed to be close.

George eyed him as he pretended to busy himself on his phone. Dream felt his face grow hot under the scrutiny of his gaze, which he tried so desperately to ignore.

George finally poked him, and he was forced to look up. “What?”

“Can we start over?” George asked. Dream drew back a little in surprise.

“What do you mean?” He replied.

“I get it, our dynamic online is weird, and it translates awkwardly into real life,” George started, fidgeting with the strings of his sweatshirt. “I don’t want to spend the whole week doing this. I want to spend time with you without… whatever energy we’ve had for the past few hours, you know?”

“Me too,” Dream said, unable to stop himself from sighing with relief.

“I just have to ask you…” George looked like he wanted to shrink into the comforter and disappear, but he kept talking anyway. “If you’re going to do something, just do it.”

_ What? _ Dream’s brain didn’t process the sentence. What did he mean? Was he talking about the stall thing? Or last night, when they’d been almost-cuddling?

He nodded and pretended he understood exactly what George meant. George kept staring at him, clearly expecting some kind of further reaction, but Dream had nothing to give.

George finally sighed and reached over him to grab the TV remote off the nightstand. “Let’s watch some YouTube. We have time to kill.”

“Sure thing,” Dream replied. Feeling brave, he scooted closer to George to take the remote back. “I’m picking.”

“Nooo, your tastes are bad!” George complained, attempting to grab the remote from Dream’s hands.

“Too bad for you,” Dream replied with a smile.

They ended up watching a random video out of Dream’s recommended, George tucked underneath Dream’s arm like nothing had ever gone wrong.

And to be honest, like this, it was easy to pretend they’d never felt awkward at all.

—

Bad and Sapnap eventually messaged them to let them know they were ready to go, and made their way up to Dream’s room to hang around while they discussed what to do for the weaning remainder of the afternoon.

Dream sat quietly as the other three bickered over where to go and what to see. Comfort spread through every fiber of his body. Being around his closest friends like this was like the cure to all of his bad feelings. He wanted to wrap them all up in a hug and tell them how much he appreciated them.

George finally kicked his shin. “Are you going to space out for the whole day or help us pick someplace?”

  
Dream laughed. “Sorry. I honestly haven’t even been listening.”

“Shocking,” Sapnap sighed. “George wants to go to the aquarium.”

“I’m judging by your tone of voice you don’t?” Dream asked.

Sapnap shrugged. “I’d rather go see the art museum while we’re here.”   
  
Bad snorted. “Since when are you an art connoisseur?”

Sapnap’s cheeks tinted pink. “I just think it’s kind of interesting, okay? There’s this limited edition exhibit I really wanted to see.”

“How about we compromise?” Dream said, patting Sapnap’s shoulder. “We can do one today, and one on the day after Pax that we have off.”

“The aquarium will probably take less time than an art museum,” Bad mused. “We can do that now, since it’s getting late.”

“Then we can go get dinner downtown afterwards. See, compromise!” Dream clapped his hands together. “Okay, kiddos, let’s go get the car if you’re done fighting.”

George grinned. “I want to see the penguins.”

“They have penguins?” Bad asked incredulously.

“Yes they do,” he replied, hooking his arm through Bad’s and pulling him towards the door. “I looked on the website. You’re gonna love it.”

Dream laughed and shook his head, following them out of the room. Sapnap fell in next to him, looking slightly miffed at the idea of spending the rest of the afternoon at an aquarium. Dream nudged him. “So, you’re an art museum guy?”

“Yeah, actually,” Sapnap replied, scratching the back of his neck. “Just one of those things. I think it’s neat.” He smiled. “Thanks for zoning back in to get them to compromise.”

“Of course,” Dream said. “Sorry, I’m kind of a space cadet today.”

“I can tell.” He lowered his voice. “Did you talk to George?”

“I did,” Dream mumbled. “Went well, I think.”

“You think?”

“It’s just weird, dude.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I feel like I’m walking on eggshells around him.”

“Well, you shouldn’t,” Sapnap said firmly. “He’s one of your best friends. He’s still just  _ George. _ ”

Dream laughed. “Yeah, I know.”

Sapnap smiled, and he felt a stirring of contentment. He’d figure things out. This would be a weekend to remember.

He was forced to drive again, much to his chagrin, with Sapnap taking shotgun this time. His few little voyages into the swamp of Boston traffic had already given him enough anxiety for a lifetime. It was hard to feel  _ too _ worried, though, with his friends chattering and arguing over Sapnap’s questionable music choices. Dream drew the line at Taylor Swift, finally snatching the aux cord from his friend and handing it back to Bad. After Bad promptly started the exact same Taylor Swift song again, he switched it to the radio.

They reached the aquarium only having almost crashed twice- once when Dream tried to battle over the radio station with Sapnap and missed an angry man in an SUV running a red light. He was breathless with anxiety when he finally got out of the car, and leaned up against the concrete wall of the parking garage they’d parked in to take a breather.

George patted him on the back half-sarcastically. “This too much for you?”   
  
Dream shook his head miserably. “Driving here is fucking terrifying. Someone else can take a turn next time.”

“Okay, okay,” Bad sighed, pulling on his winter jacket. “I’ll drive next time, you big baby.”

“Call me a baby  _ after _ you almost get t-boned by a Honda, okay?”

“Relax, ladies, we can all take turns almost dying,” Sapnap replied. “Come on, I want to see the penguins.”

“Oh  _ now _ you’re excited,” George deadpanned. “I thought the aquarium was too boring for your refined tastes.”

“It is. Penguins are the exception.” Sapnap jogged off ahead. “I’ll race you!” George grinned and took off after him.

“Shall we?” Bad asked. Dream winked at him and ran after their friends. Bad yelled “Wait up!” as he sprinted to catch up.

Dream had to run down three flights of stairs to catch up to Sapnap, and was totally out of breath when he finally reached the bottom. The four of them stood there, panting in the freezing air, staring at the door to the street level. Sapnap finally stretched his arms over his head and sighed. “Okay, good exercise! Let’s go.”

The aquarium was, thankfully, very close to the parking garage. The freezing air whipping off of the harbor turned Dream’s exposed skin to ice. He huddled into his new jacket, thankful at the warmth it brought- but the wind seemed to crawl through the stitches of the fabric and clutch at his body.

He noticed George eyeing him, watching him shiver in the icy breeze. Even in his pockets, his hands felt like they were made of snow. He was miserable in this weather.

George fell back to walk next to him and slipped his hand into Dream’s pocket, feeling for his icy fingers. George’s hands were warm. The other man didn’t say a word as he laced his fingers through Dream’s, his gaze steady to the horizon. Dream squeezed his hand in silent gratitude. The cold felt a little less prominent.

If Sapnap or Bad noticed, they didn’t mention it.

Outside of the aquarium was a massive tank with seals swimming around inside. The glass warped their bodies, making them appear in wildly different shapes depending on how far up or down the side they were. It was pretty entertaining. The steady pressure of George’s hand against his own and the silky rhythm of the seals gliding back and forth across their enclosure almost made the cold worth it.

Finally, feeling his feet start to go numb, he dragged his friends inside to get tickets. His sneakers weren’t thick enough to provide much warmth at all. He cursed himself for preparing exactly nothing for the weather up north.

George let go of his hand to get his wallet, and Dream had to physically restrain his heart from panging with resentment. They got their tickets quickly. The aquarium was mostly empty. Cold Thursday afternoons weren’t exactly peak tourist-y times.

George and Sapnap made a beeline for the penguin enclosure. It smelled awful, but the little things were pretty cute. George was mesmerized. Dream found himself glancing over at George the entire time they stood by the tank, taking in his slack smile and shining eyes.  _ Man, I wish he looked at me like that _ . He let the thought linger for a moment before forcing it out of his head.

Dream spent a lot of time inside his head as they wandered through the exhibits. He pretended to read the lists of various ocean facts, but was disinterested. His lack of sleep the previous night was starting to catch up to him. He’d almost dozed off when he and George had been waiting for Bad and Sapnap earlier. He felt bad. He desperately wanted to stay present and squeeze every last drop of interaction out of his time with his friends.

George seemed to notice his distraction. They’d only been around each other for two days, and George was already able to translate his natural understanding of Dream’s emotions into real life observations.

“Doing okay?” George asked, sidling up next to him. Dream was staring distantly into the giant center tank in the middle of the aquarium, watching the fish swim by idly. George’s eyes flickered in the wavering blue light.

Dream shrugged. “Didn’t sleep much last night.”

George wound his arm through Dream’s. “Well, you can crash as soon as we get back to the hotel after dinner.”

Dream groaned dramatically and leaned into George’s grip. “I feel like I could sleep right now.”

His friend giggled. “Sleep with the fishes.”

Dream didn’t delegate that terrible joke with a reply. He held George’s arm a little tighter, watching his face light up in the glow of the water and myriad colorful fish darting in and out of the rocks and coral. He thought, like this, he looked so beautiful it almost hurt.

He looked away, and lost himself in the pulsing currents of the ocean façade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI GUYS I AM SO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED THIS IN SO LONG!!
> 
> thank you SO SO SO SO much for all of the incredibly lovely comments everyone left on the first two parts! i love you all to death and i appreciate your kind words and support more than you know.
> 
> gotta level with y'all, i totally forgot this existed for like a full two weeks. there were the holidays, then i was building my own computer, then had a bunch of midterms, and then and then and then... you get it. anyway, i'm back, and i'm gonna finish this ASAP. you guys aren't even prepared for my magnum opus (it's a fantasy prince and assassin au, you're gonna love it if i ever finish it).
> 
> i hope you guys like the new chapter! thank you so much for reading!


	4. part four - george

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which George reassesses their situation, and the gang bonds at the first day of Pax.

George was starting to think he was in over his head with Dream.

He couldn’t tell if the guy was oblivious, stupid, overly cautious, or all three. He was  _ certain _ he’d gotten his point across back in the hotel room. He’d stopped just shy of explicitly telling the idiot to kiss him.

And yet, once again, Dream had done nothing.

Standing beside Dream at the aquarium, watching the fish swim by in terse silence, he’d wondered to himself if he’d screwed up his estimations. Maybe Dream honestly just wanted a friend to be platonically affectionate with.

Either way, the whole situation made something deep in his chest  _ ache _ in a way that made his head spin.

Sapnap and Bad had located them eventually, pulling them to the next exhibit without mentioning their clasped arms or George’s pink cheeks. He had to give the two of them a lot of credit. If he was in their position, he’d probably be a nosy bastard.

Dream split off from the group as they made their way through the river fish exhibit, mumbling something about a bathroom. He didn’t reappear for quite some time, to the point where they were done with all of the exhibits (not that they’d had a lot left when he’d gone) and stood by the exit to wait for him.

  
He came back from the direction of the bathrooms, not-so-subtly attempting to hide a plastic bag behind his leg as he walked. George recognized the aquarium logo- for whatever reason, Dream had snuck off to buy something from the gift shop.

“What’s in the bag?” Sapnap asked as he walked back over. “And, uh, how did you get it from the bathroom?”

“Sorry, I stopped in the gift shop on my way back,” Dream apologized, flushing slightly. “I promised my sister I’d get her a souvenir.”

“Oh, cute,” Bad replied. “Man, I should’ve gone with you. I could’ve gotten a penguin pillow or something.”

“Save your money for Pax, bro,” Sapnap replied. “Come on, let’s go. I’m starving.”

George found a sushi place he was determined to get everyone else to try, even though it was on the other side of the city. The drive was significantly less stressful. He rode shotgun with Bad driving, who drove the entire way there with no major incidents, much to Dream’s chagrin. George encouraged the others to let Dream DJ this time, earning himself a fond smile that put butterflies in George’s stomach.

Parking was spotty, but Bad finally located a parallel parking place, easing the car into the spot in such a skillful way that he was given a round of applause by his friends. George elbowed him as they started walking towards the restaurant. “I think we should just have you drive from now on,” he said. “Dream is clearly inferior.”

“Hey!” Dream protested. “I’m trying my best, okay?”

“Sure, buddy,” Sapnap said. “It’s okay. You can’t be the greatest at everything.” George snorted, and Dream kicked him in the shin.

The hostess at the restaurant told them there’d be a short wait, so they found a spot on the wall to huddle away from the other groups waiting to be seated. George pretended not to notice the way Dream angled his body towards him, or the soft pressure of Dream’s gaze every time it lingered on him. He dove into a conversation with the others, decidedly  _ not _ looking at Dream. Either nothing would happen this weekend, or he’d drive the guy insane until something did.

He had to pin down how Dream felt before he went home. He just had to. Even if the distance would hurt like hell, he would rather know for sure. He couldn’t spend another few months in this weird half-flirting purgatory they’d settled into.

He wanted to have Dream for real, or not at all.

The hostess finally seated them at their table, and George once again had a moment of  _ I have no idea what any of this means _ as he glanced at the menu for the first time. He’d sat next to Bad on one side of the booth, so he exhorted his friend for quiet explanations as to what some of the different words meant. George wasn’t really a foodie guy, so a few of the things were lost on him.

They decided to order family-style so they could all share, relieving George of some of the pressure of figuring things out. Even if he  _ had _ known 100% of the menu options, he felt the fuzz of exhaustion starting to eat at his brain. He was just about ready to pass out by the time the appetizers showed up.

Dream seemed to notice his thousand mile stare and nudged his foot under the table. “Earth to George.”

“Poor Brit,” Sapnap said, poking George’s hand with the end of one of his chopsticks. “So jetlagged.”

“George hasn’t gone outside this much in years,” Bad said, smiling a little. “Cut him some slack, guys.” Dream and Sapnap snickered.

George rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Bad. Appreciate it.”

Bad grinned. “But of course.”

Dream took to kicking at George’s toes every couple of seconds to keep him zoned in enough to at least pretend to participate in the conversation. He once again felt a flicker of that domestic feeling- playing footsie under the table at a restaurant was simultaneously ridiculous and adorable at the same time. He didn’t have the energy to kick back at Dream, but shot him a flustered smile every time Dream kicked him a little too hard.

He caught Sapnap making a face at the two of them more than once. He found himself wondering exactly what Sapnap had pulled aside Dream to say earlier- he’d pretended that he hadn’t noticed their little side conversation at the airport, but he’d heard his name mumbled a few times.

The food came, and it was next-level delicious. He ate  _ way _ too much, but they’d over ordered and didn’t want to take home raw fish. It was definitely better than the diner food they’d had that morning, or the shitty airport sandwiches, but he didn’t really care about the quality. The laughter of his friends and the smile that couldn’t leave his face could’ve made cardboard taste sweet.

Something about being around the guys in person put him on cloud nine. He could barely process it was real. Every time Sapnap grinned at him, and Bad laughed hard enough to draw the attention of other tables, and he caught Dream staring at him in a way that put his cheeks blushing and his skin shivering, he felt like he was flying.

Bad took note of him falling asleep into his half-eaten sushi roll, and they called the waitress for the check. George distantly remembered that he’d said he’d pay for dinner, but Dream once again snatched the bill, much to everyone’s complaints. The others harassed Dream the entire way out of the restaurant about his “manhunt blood money”. Dream took it with a light smile.

George fell in step next to Dream as they walked back to the car, the city lights ethereal with the light buzz of sleepiness in his head. Dream’s knuckles brushed lightly against his own as they moved together. George noticed Dream had his other hand tucked away in his pocket- but he reached for George, even with the biting cold.

George obliged. Dream’s grip was firm, and the tips of his fingers felt like chips of ice. His palm was warm.

It felt like a silent apology, every little touch and brush of Dream’s thumb or the toe of Dream’s shoe kicking his shin under the restaurant table. He was doing what he could to fix the uncertain divide that George had brought between them in that little changing stall. Would it be repaired fast enough? Maybe. Maybe not.

With Dream’s soft tan contrasted against George’s pale skin in the half-light of the rental car, it was difficult to think about anything else.

He caught Bad looking back at them a few times, in a not-very-subtle way. He wasn’t sure how much his friend had picked up on the awkward situation. Maybe Sapnap had said something already. Either way, he knew something was up.

When they finally reached the hotel, Bad and Sapnap hurriedly said their good nights in the elevator and headed their separate ways.. George felt a prickle of guilt as he meandered through the hotel hallways with Dream. This trip was for all of them, not just the two of them. The air grew awkward and stale as uncertain thoughts darted through his tired mind.

“I feel bad,” George said aloud as they stopped outside of his room. “About Sapnap and Bad, I mean. I hope they’re not uncomfortable.”

“And why would they be uncomfortable?” Dream replied, a slight smile on his face. He squeezed George’s hand- which he still had a grip on- and pulled it up to his chest, forcing the distance between the two of them to close a little more.

“Dream,” George said, a note of seriousness in his voice.

Dream sighed. “Yeah, I know. I’m teasing.” He let go of George’s hand, but George let it linger against Dream’s chest. “I’m just… I don’t want to make you  _ or _ them uncomfortable. We can stop.”

George laughed a little. “I don’t really want to stop,” he admitted. The immediate shift in Dream’s expression sent chills dancing down his spine. “But let’s limit the PDA. This weekend is for all of us, not just you and I.”

“Man, I wish it was, though,” Dream mumbled, leaning in a little closer. George could feel his breath. What was this sudden shift in attitude? He suddenly felt like they were toeing a new line.

“Yeah,” was all George could manage. Dream’s eyes flickered across George’s face. There it was again, that walking-on-glass expression. Was it fear? Doubt, maybe?

Dream suddenly pulled away, shattering the fragile moment. “Um, I have something for you.”

“What?” George asked, letting his hand drop away from Dream’s chest. He shoved it into his pocket.

Sheepishly, Dream pulled out the aquarium gift shop bag from earlier, which George had nearly forgotten about. He reached into it and pulled out a penguin plushie.

George raised his eyebrows in mild disbelief, even as his mind immediately shouted  _ he got you a present that is so fucking adorable look at his dumb blushing face _ . He reached out and took it from Dream’s hand. It was soft, and tiny, and he had literally no idea why Dream had decided to get it for him.

It was incredibly sweet.

“Sorry, I know this is totally weird. I was just sort of in my feelings at the aquarium…” Dream trailed off, coughing. His face was bright red.

George laughed aloud, holding the plushie to his chest, right above his heart. “I love it. Thank you.” Feeling a sudden burst of bravery mixed with fondness, he reached and took hold of Dream’s chin with his free hand. He leaned up and pressed a soft kiss against Dream’s cheek.

Dream’s skin felt like it was on fire, and it was a shade of red to match the heat when George finally pulled away. “I… um…” It was quite entertaining to see the usually suave Dream at a loss for words. He seemed to compose himself, after a second of hesitation. “Is that some sort of special English thank-you?”

“Sure,  _ bro, _ ” George deadpanned, but he was still smiling. “Good night, Dream.”

“Good night, George,” Dream said, and he whispered George’s name like a prayer.

His heart was still racing when he closed the door behind him, still thumping out of his chest even after he heart Dream walk away.

He was barely conscious as he took a rushed shower and collapsed onto his bed, the penguin plushie still clutched in his hands.

He would have Dream. They were so close. Just a little longer.

He fell asleep watching the skyline and the stars that just barely flickered beyond the endless haze of light pollution.

\--

George woke up with the sunrise.

He squinted into the rays of sun that reflected off of the glass buildings outside, irritated at the inescapable light. Then a shock of excitement rushed through his body, jolting him awake. Pax was today.

He gently set the penguin plushie aside, which he’d fallen asleep holding, and reached for his phone. He powered it on and was immediately greeted by his daily  _ Snapchat from Dream _ notification. He opened it with a smile.

It was a selfie taken sitting on the edge of his bed, with a lopsided and sleepy smile. He’d sent it a few minutes ago. It was captioned,  _ Let me know when you’re up. I’m delivering everyone coffee. _

George screenshotted it and sent it to his “dream pictures” folder. He held the phone up over his head, too lazy to get out of bed, and scrunched the duvet up to his face to hide his messy appearance.  _ I’m up. Good morning. _

He set his phone down and headed for his suitcase. He’d spent a minimal amount of time figuring out clothes to pack, so he wasn’t even super sure what he’d brought with him. He scrounged up a pair of jeans and a hoodie and decided it was good enough.

He ran a brush through his hair in front of the mirror, regretting his decision to shower before sleeping last night- his hair was properly atrocious. He tried on one of the beanies he’d brought and grimaced as he was reminded of all of the “discount Quackity” jokes he’d seen online. He finally got his hair settled in an okay place and flopped down in the armchair by the window to scroll through Twitter until Dream arrived.

_ Excited for Pax today! Me and the boys about to wreak havoc, _ George tweeted, smiling to himself. He wondered distantly what Dream had settled on for a way to cover his face today, if he’d made a plan at all. Maybe he’d brought his full face mask from the Mr. Beast video- but it didn’t have eyeholes, so it probably wouldn’t work.

There was a knock on his door a moment later. Speak of the devil.

George walked over the door and opened it, greeted by a fresh-faced Dream bearing two coffee cups in his hands. “Sapnap is still asleep, and apparently Bad has been up for an hour and got himself breakfast already, the bastard,” Dream said, handing George one of the cups. He had a little cafe to-go bag tucked under his arm. “How do you feel about scones?”

“I love scones!” George said, snatching the cafe bag. “My hero, as always.”

Dream walked into the room like he owned the place, sitting down on the edge of George’s bed. He was wearing his trademark green hoodie, the merchandise variety with the smile printed on the front. George realized he was attempting to dress like he had in the Mr. Beast video, fingerless gloves and all, though the cross-chest belt was absent.

“Nice outfit,” George commented, taking a sip of his coffee. “So much for subtlety.”

“About that,” Dream said. “Bad actually had a brilliant idea, and ran to the store this morning.” He reached into his hoodie pocket and pulled out one of those medical masks and a pair of sunglasses. He looped the mask over his ears and put on the sunglasses, then pulled his hood up. “Incognito mode!”

George laughed. “Oh my God, it’s perfect.” He took a bite of his scone. “Can you, like… see?”

Dream snorted. “Not well. Gonna have to have you guys guiding me around by the elbow today if it’s too dark in the convention center.”

George took his scone out of the bag and tossed the bag to Dream, who caught it with one hand as he was pulling his sunglasses off. He sat down on the bed next to Dream. “Are you excited?”

“More excited now that I’m less worried about face revealing,” Dream said, pulling his hood back down. He tucked his mask and glasses back in his pocket. “This is supposedly a really good time.”

“So I’ve heard,” George replied. He went back to eating his scone. It was dry, but still decent. He didn’t expect much from a hotel lobby cafe, though.

Dream made a startled noise, and George looked up at him in confusion. Dream reached over and picked up the penguin plushie, which was still lying on George’s pillow where he’d left it earlier. “Did you sleep with this last night?”

George’s face turned red. “I was appreciating your gift!”

“Oh,  _ sure _ ,” Dream drawled. “ _ Appreciating. _ ”

“You gave me a stuffed animal. What else was I supposed to do with it?”

“I dunno,” Dream replied. “But I bet everyone would love to know Gogy sleeps with a stuffed penguin now-”

George snatched it out of his hand. “Shut up. It’s  _ your _ dumb gift.” He clutched the penguin close to his stomach and took an irritated bite out of his scone.

“My dumb gift that you clearly adore,” Dream said with a smirk, taking his scone out of the cafe bag. He raised it to George like he was making a toast.

“I don’t get you sometimes,” George said, leaning back.

“What do you mean?” Dream’s smile evaporated.

“One moment, you’re this… suave, teasing, happy-go-lucky idiot, like right now,” George started, fiddling with the penguin’s fur. “Next moment you’re all emotional and flustered and sad-looking.”

Dream’s expression darkened. George felt a soft jolt in his chest. He’d struck a nerve.  _ Shit. _

“This is… difficult for me, you know,” Dream said, not meeting George’s eyes. “Whatever is happening here. Between us. I want…” He trailed off, like the right words were stuck in his throat. He shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m trying.”

“I know,” George replied. Things were starting to make sense to him, just a bit more. If he pushed too hard, he’d scare Dream off. “I understand, really. I’m sorry if I’m making you uncomfortable.”

“You’re not!” Dream insisted. “Not at all. It’s…” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry. I think I need just a little bit of time.”

George nodded, even though it stung. “Can you promise me one thing?”

Dream looked up. “Depends.”

George swallowed. “Can we figure things out sooner rather than later? Now, while we’re here, so that we don’t have to…” He gestured vaguely to the air. “I don’t know. Do it online, later.”

Dream closed his eyes for a second, then nodded. “I promise.”

“Good.” George smiled, and tapped his coffee cup against Dream’s. “We have a deal.”   
  
Dream grinned sheepishly at him, and it made his heart melt.

They ate in silence, but the quiet was comfortable and warm. George found it surprisingly easy to quell his irritation and uncertainty about Dream’s reaction. He knew- he just  _ knew _ \- his feelings were reciprocated. Dream just needed to build up to it. He was sure.

Sapnap eventually called, having been woken up by Bad after he slept through his alarm. George gathered his things he’d need for the day into a little drawstring bag and they headed for the lobby to meet their friends. The air felt electric as they waited for the others to arrive. George had never been big on conventions, but he was incredibly excited.

After the other two finally came downstairs, they made a pit stop at the hotel cafe for Sapnap to get something to eat and Bad to get a second coffee (he hadn’t slept much, apparently). Then, with Dream complaining about the weather as per usual, they headed out into the freezing cold morning.

They were staying in the Seaport District, so the convention center was only a few blocks away. Even with it looming between the buildings, they still managed to get lost within a minute. Sapnap eventually pulled out his phone GPS, taking them on a better route over a footbridge that let them straight to the front steps of the massive building.

“Hey, Mr. Faceless, you should put on your disguise,” George suggested to Dream as they got closer. Dream nodded and put on his mask and sunglasses, grumbling about the cold as he had to unzip his jacket to get at them.

“You look like a stalker,” Sapnap deadpanned as they got into the already-long entry line.

“I think it’s a fashionable look,” Dream replied, puffing out his chest. “Mysterious no-face man is the new black.”

Bad shrugged. “Better than my first idea, which was to make you a paper mask out of hotel room stationary and duct tape.”

“Definitely a better idea,” Dream agreed.

Bundled in their jackets, nobody really gave them a second glance. George hadn’t really been recognized in public often, especially since their popularity had only risen dramatically in very recent times. Going to a convention specifically for gaming, however- especially since he was aware a lot of other relevant content creators tended to attend- was an entirely different animal. Anyone they saw could know their faces, especially his, since he tended to show his the most out of the three that did.

Their first recognition was the ticket booth lady who handed them their weekend badges. Her eyes widened slightly as she looked up from her computer at him, then at Sapnap, as if she was trying to confirm. She cleared her throat awkwardly. “Welcome to Pax! Can I get your names to get your badges for you?”

She tactfully avoided their eyes as she went through the transaction. Before they walked away, she finally blurted out, “By the way, I’m a big fan. Nice to meet you guys.”

“Nice to meet you too,” George replied with a smile. The others mumbled similar greetings before walking away.

“To the first of many,” Sapnap said, clinking his badge against George’s like he was toasting.

“Cheers,” George replied, hanging the badge around his neck.

The convention hall opened up into a massive floor that was set down into the ground a story or two down from the ground level they were on. The ceiling was high and the floor so low it looked like you could fit two or three football pitches in with little effort. Massive stands filled the hall for different companies, boasting massive game logos and colorful displays. It was dizzying and dazzling.

“Where do we even start?” Bad asked, craning his neck to get a better view.

“Game demos, obviously,” Sapnap replied, and started for the escalators. The others hurried after him, not wanting to lose him in the crowd.

They rode an escalator down to the convention floor, where they were instantly submerged into a teeming crowd of people moving between the different game stands. There were Nintendo and Discord stands on their right, looming with flashing lights and colorful logos. Final Fantasy took up the entire corner on their left. Sprinkled in between were stands for dozens of brand new games and smaller studios. George felt a little dizzy. It would probably take them the full three days to see it all.

He felt a grip on his sweatshirt sleeve and glanced over his shoulder. Dream had taken ahold of his arm, not wanting to lose him in the impressive crowd.

“It’s kind of a pain to wear these,” Dream said, leaning down so George could hear him. “The sunglasses, I mean. It sucks.”

“Just take them off. Nobody’s getting a sneaky photo of you in a crowd like this. I doubt anyone even recognizes us,” George replied.

Dream tugged them off of his face and glanced down at George, then winked. George felt himself blush despite himself and turned away, trying to hide a smile.

It was busy enough that George’s prediction was correct. Though he caught a few people glancing their way, likely drawn to the neon green and easily recognizable Dream sweatshirt, nobody really seemed to put two and two together enough to actually stop them.

They wandered between the different stands with no real destination in mind, avoiding the longest demo lines since they had all weekend to try things out. It was already nearing ten o’clock, so the crowds were out in full force. Sapnap eventually stopped them at an indie game booth tucked behind the Nintendo section so he could try out a game he found particularly interesting.

The day became a blur. They meandered between demos and trials and showcases, dazzled by the colorful trailers and flashing lights around them. George had a list going on his phone by an hour in of games he wanted to try back home on his own computer.

Dream, despite his promises, found any excuse to hang off of George like a giant green koala. George found himself counting his blessings that nobody really recognized them- if they did, it would be difficult to explain why Dream kept trying to hold his hand to get him to look at a specific game or follow him to a particularly well-designed stand.

They eventually took a break for lunch after clearing the entire first half of the room, which was no small feat. There were rows of food trucks outside in a small courtyard, which was packed, much to Dream’s displeasure. They would have to stand out in the icy wind for quite some time to get something to eat.

After they split up to get their own particular food choices (George settled on street tacos, Sapnap a cheeseburger, Dream some sort of weird poutine, and Bad a normal sandwich) they met back up inside. There was a massive Just Dance stand on the second floor of the building where people of all ages were making fools of themselves dancing in front of a crowd of spectators.

Sapnap dragged the rest of them by the arm upstairs to watch, finding a spot by the edge of the room to sit and eat. George knew the “let’s do a dance!” comment was inevitable, so he tried to take as long as possible to eat his food, as if Sapnap would somehow decide not to say anything if he did.

It didn’t work.

“We should go up and do one,” Sapnap said, eyeing the group of Overwatch cosplayers attempting to dance to a kpop song.

“Absolutely not,” Dream said. “I have the coordination of a snail.”

“Seconded,” George said. “Besides, I still have to finish my taco.”   
  
“Fuck your taco, dude! Dance time!” Sapnap cheered.

“Rude,” George grumbled.

“Aw, come on, guys,” Bad said. “Making memories. It’ll be fun.”

George exchanged a glance with Dream, like  _ these two idiots will be the death of us. _ Dream finally sighed. “Alright, fine, I’m in.”

“Someone should film, I’ll stay behind-” George started to say, but Sapnap snatched the takeaway container out of his hand and pulled him to his feet by his arm.

“Come on, pretty boy,” Sapnap teased. “Move it.”

They left their bags piled up where they could see them and followed Sapnap around the back of the crowd to the line forming on one side of the little stage that the convention had set up for people to dance on. George was already flushing with embarrassment. He thought to himself he should have less stage fright since he was a streamer, but it was significantly easier to perform for people he couldn’t see.

If nobody had noticed them before, people were starting to notice them now. The majority of the people in that area were teenage girls and guys, exactly the type that would be in their demographic. George could already see the Twitter trending page.

They’d picked a good time, because there weren’t that many people ahead of them. Eventually, they made their way onto the stage. Instantly the room started talking louder. “Holy shit, is that the Dream Team?” He heard a girl in the front row say. He managed to smile at her, and she clapped a hand over her mouth.

“What song should we do?” Bad asked, like he was totally unaware the entire room was hyper focused on them. George noticed a few people were pulling out cameras.

“This one,” Sapnap said, picking one off of the list and starting it without double checking.

“No, no- Fuck you, Nick,” Dream groaned, stepping back so that they all had room to dance.

“Which one did he-” George cut himself off. “Seriously?”

_ Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!  _ by ABBA started to blast over the speakers on either side of the stage. The screen in front of them showed the dance moves. George rolled his eyes and started to dance.

The audience cheered as they started dancing, but George tried to focus on the screen in front of them instead of the people beyond. His face was flushed bright red.  _ Making memories, huh? _ He grinned and put his whole heart into it.

All he really cared about was beating Dream, and he knew he could do it. Sapnap was a total tryhard, and Bad somehow had better coordination than all of them, but Dream looked like he was trying to do a fucked up chicken dance.

The song eventually ended, and George was totally out of breath, all of the residual chills from the cold weather fully gone from his body. Dream buried his head in his hands at the results, coming in solid last. Sapnap came in first, of course, but George managed to steal a close second place from Bad.

The crowd went wild. The second they got off the stage, a gaggle of people ran up to them, asking for pictures or just trying to say hello. “Is that actually Dream?” “Oh my god, he’s real!”

George felt immediately overwhelmed, but he put on a brave face and leaned down for a few quick pictures with some of the people waiting. Dream, despite being “in disguise”, was the best at handling fans. He made easy conversation with a few of the girls asking him for a picture, politely declined a few selfies, and calmly redirected some of the attention on his face to the others. George gladly stepped in to help him out, offering for Dream to take pictures of George and other people.

The small crowd dispersed after a little while, and they managed to escape to a back hallway.

“That was intense,” Dream said, pulling his hood down and running a hand through his hair. “It’s so hard to do that in-person.”

“It was worth it,” Sapnap said, leaning against the wall with a cheeky grin. “I had fun.”

“So did I,” George admitted. “Questionable song choice though.”

“Oh, come on, ABBA is iconic!”

“You’re a nerd.”   
  
They all broke off into laughter, the adrenaline still pumping in their veins.

Leaning into Dream’s side, feeling the cool air on his face and the brightness of the world around him, he felt the last of his bad feelings burn away. He was going to make the most of this weekend, no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHHH HI I'M BACK
> 
> so sorry for how long these updates are taking! school is kicking my ass and i'm having severe writer's block with this story right now. it's really hard to write the in-between filler and still make it interesting.
> 
> the pax stuff is basically pulling exclusively from my own experience. the just dance stage and the overwatch cosplayers are very vivid in my mind (d.va and widowmaker dancing to "how you like that" is burned into my head forever). almost a year ago now, actually, so this is sort of a happy pax anniversary to myself, haha
> 
> anyways, i'm sorry if this chapter is a little boring! i promise you'll like the next one a lot ;)
> 
> thank you again for all of the support. i love you all!


	5. part five-ish - dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Dream finally makes a move.

Dream was exhausted, but it was that magical kind of exhaustion that put you to sleep with a smile on your face and pleasant dreams waiting to embrace you.

The rest of their first day at Pax had been just as entertaining as the first half. Word got out about their exact location, so a lot more fans ended up hunting them down to take pictures (the others blamed Dream’s hoodie for that, and they were probably right). The Just Dance video that several people had posted went viral in an instant, though Dream had yet to watch it, knowing the second-hand embarrassment would kill him.

Any guilt he felt about clinging to George like a lost puppy all day was washed away by the excitement and wonder of the convention. Even waiting in lines to try game demos was interesting. There was never a dull moment. They only finally decided to leave after making a second full lap of the floor, since it was getting late into the afternoon and all of them were starting to feel the slow drain of spending so much time walking around.

Dream finally let himself breathe as they left the hall, feeling the weight of being recognized falling off of his shoulders again. He’d managed to dodge a lot of selfies, but the Just Dance videos were out there for everyone to see. Sure, most of his face was covered, but it still made his stomach turn a little bit.

He sighed into the frozen afternoon wind that skated off of the ocean and funneled through the city streets. This had been his choice. If he really cared that much about hiding his face, he shouldn’t have gone to a convention or worn his signature hoodie.

He took a deep breath and let the anxiety go.

“What’s our plan for dinner?” Sapnap asked, rubbing his arms. “I’d prefer not to stay out in the cold any longer than necessary.”

“Yeah, man, it really gets chilly as soon as the sun sets,” Bad complained, squinting at the fading orange halo of the long-set sun on the horizon.

“It’s chilly, period,” Dream grumbled, scrunching up his shoulders.

“Yeah, yeah, Florida man,” George replied, scrolling on his phone. “There are a few places near here we could go- some Italian place, a seafood place, Shake Shack-”

“Shake Shack! Oh my God, we have to. Do they have those in England?” Bad asked.

George shrugged. “I mean, yeah, I think we have some, but I’ve never been.”

“We drove past that at one point. It’s miles away,” Dream complained.

“Oh, please, it’s a five minute walk,” George said, holding up the map for Dream to see. He sighed but decided not to argue- either way, they’d end up having to walk. It was cold enough that he’d rather just get somewhere and be done with it.

He followed after the others as George led the way, map in hand. The cold air was surprisingly refreshing. As much as he wanted to crash, he wanted to hold onto every waking moment. He breathed in the freezing wind, love-hating the way it stung his lungs and dried his throat. His cheeks prickled as they started to go numb. He buried his face in his collar and hurried along.

He forced himself to give George a little bit of space, since he hadn’t exactly been doing the best job of it up until this point. Even as he shied away, though, George kept brushing up against Dream’s side, his fingers sneaking into Dream’s pocket, his eyes sneaking little glances at Dream’s face. It was the most un-subtle thing in the world. Dream kind of loved it.

The restaurant was crowded, and Dream felt that pressing sense of claustrophobia that came from spending a whole day around strangers. Discomfort rose in him at the thought of eating in a crowded restaurant, especially since he’d have to pull his mask down to do it. He’d weirdly gotten used to the layer of anonymity.

He pushed it down and got in line with the others.

George grabbed the bill for all of them, insisting it was only fair since Dream had paid for the other meals. Dream was too tired to complain.

They found a table in the corner, and Dream forced Sapnap to sit on the outside so he could hide against the wall. He felt awkward and nervous all of a sudden. It must have just been the exhaustion.

The food was about as painfully average as Dream remembered Shake Shack being. He was generally the type of person who tried to eat fast food as little as possible, especially for full meals. Still, the others were enjoying themselves.

George wasn’t too impressed by the food, but he admitted it was better than most fast food burgers. Sapnap and Bad were pleased with that answer. Sapnap forced all of them to try dipping fries in their shakes, which Dream found was his new favorite thing. George made fun of him for it, but it was just objectively better.

By the time they were finally leaving for the hotel, Dream was nearly dead on his feet. The cold air was helping, but it wasn’t enough.

He leaned into George as they walked. George hooked his arm through Dream’s, smiling up at him. “You look depressed.”

“Just tired. I don’t go outside, George,” Dream said, sarcastically. “I haven’t been around that many people in a while.”

“You realize the convention goes for two more days, right?”

“Yeah…” Dream sighed, hanging his head. “I’ll probably die, or something.”

“Dying is lame.”

“True.”

His whole body was numb by the time they made it into the hotel lobby. “Tomorrow, can we take a taxi?”

“Absolutely not,” Sapnap replied, clapping him on the back. “Learn to survive, Florida boy.”

“Rich, coming from a guy who lives in Texas,” Dream replied, rolling his eyes.

They loaded into the elevator. “Seriously, I can’t even feel my feet right now,” Dream complained.

“Any askers?” Bad deadpanned. They all burst out laughing.

“You think you’re so funny,” Dream grumbled.

“Yes. Yes I do.” The elevator opened at his floor. “See you tomorrow, muffin-heads.”

“My stop too. I hope you don’t get frostbite, Florida Man!” Sapnap said, grinning. He dodged Dream’s halfhearted punch and ran off down the hallway, cackling the whole time.

The doors slid shut, and Dream and George continued up to their floor. “I’ll walk you to your hotel room,” George said. “Don’t want you to fall asleep in the hallway.”

“Sure,” Dream said, winking at him. George’s face turned red, and he crossed his arms in a huff, but didn’t reply.

When they reached Dream’s hotel room, Dream felt a pang in his chest. He didn’t really want George to leave. His nerves were getting the best of him, and he wished more than anything he could get the words out of his mouth.

Dream opened the door and headed inside. George didn’t follow, lingering in the doorway.

“Good night, Clay,” George said softly.

Stay, Dream thought desperately. Please stay.

George turned and walked away, letting the door shut behind him.

Dream let out a frustrated breath and rested his forehead against the cold wood of the door, cursing himself. Why couldn’t he ask George to stay? Why couldn’t he say what he meant, or do what he wanted?

His heart was pounding so hard he could feel it in his toes. George was right there and he was going to trip over his own uncertainty and push him away again. If he didn’t do anything, he’d waste this entire weekend- his only shot to express his feelings to George in person. They wouldn’t see each other again for months at the very least.

He had promised George.

Why couldn’t he do it? Why was he so scared? He knew exactly how George felt, so why?

He had to. He had to.

He had to be himself. He had to trust himself.

Dream took a deep breath and opened the door.

He took a step forward, leaning out of the room. George was halfway down the hallway, already almost at the elevators. Dream shook his head, trying to settle his nerves, and ran after him.

George turned around, hearing Dream’s heavy footsteps on the hallway floor. “What’s wrong? Did you need something-”

Dream reached forward and grabbed him by the wrist. Wordlessly, he turned around and started pulling George back towards his room. George didn’t complain or say a single word- he just followed.

He pulled George into the room, fully consumed by his feelings. He shut the door behind George and wrapped his other arm around George’s waist, pinning him against the door. George’s eyes widened as Dream reached up to grip the back of his head.

Dream leaned down and crushed his mouth against George’s.

George gasped into the kiss and threw his arms around Dream’s neck, winding his fingers into Dream’s hair. Dream felt like his entire body was on fire. Chills shivered down his spine as George’s lips moved against his own and he dug his fingers into George’s shirt, desperately seeking a solid grip.

George was warm and soft and his. Dream bundled him into his arms, half-carrying him towards his bed. George clutched at his sweatshirt, yelping as Dream lifted him and dumped him on the comforter. “Hey, be a little more gentle- mmh!” Dream cut off George’s protests by leaning down over him and kissing him again. George sighed and kissed him back.

Dream pinned George against the bed, holding down one of George’s wrists with one hand and holding his face with the other. He felt like every nerve in his body was overloading. George’s soft, panting breaths against Dream’s mouth were all he could hear. The pounding pulse in his wrist was all Dream could feel. He was going to lose his mind.

Why didn’t he do this sooner?

He kissed at George’s cheeks, admiring the soft skin of his jaw and trailing down to his neck. George let out a whine and struggled under Dream’s grip. “Mm. That tickles, Clay.”

At the sound of George saying his name, he felt himself nearly collapse. He looked up to meet George’s eyes, the full gravity of the situation finally catching up with him. Oh. Oh. This was really happening. He had George, one of his best friends, pinned on a hotel room bed.

His anxiety came rushing back. So much for taking it slow, idiot.

“I’m so sorry,” Dream said, suddenly self-conscious. He let go of George and pulled away, his face hot with embarrassment.

“Why are you sorry?” George asked, his eyes filling with something like hurt.

“I just- I got ahead of myself, I didn’t even ask if you were okay with this-”

“Dream. Calm down.” George reached up and cupped Dream’s chin in his hand. “If I didn’t like it, I would’ve said something by now.”

“I- I said this morning I was going to take my time, and now I’m doing this- I’m such a hypocrite.” Dream felt his throat closing up.

“Hey, hey! It’s okay.” George sat up so they were facing each other, sitting on their knees on the bed. “Honestly, Clay. I promise. This is totally fine by me.” He laced his fingers through Dream’s, resting on the comforter next to them.

Dream forced himself to meet George’s eyes. He saw nothing but kindness and affection. He wished he could drown in the look on George’s face, that pure fondness and endless patience. He knew if he asked, George would wait forever for him.

He managed a sheepish smile, and squeezed George’s hand. “I’m sorry for freaking out.”

“It’s fine, I promise,” George laughed. He held up his hand. “Look, I’m nervous too. I’m shaking.” And he was- Dream could see the tremors in his fingers.

Dream took hold of George’s hand and held it up to his mouth, kissing his palm gently. “I think I have feelings for you,” he mumbled against George’s skin.

“You think? You’ve only been eyeing me all weekend, man,” George grumbled, rolling his eyes. “You’re lucky you acted sooner rather than later, or I would’ve ghosted you after leaving.”

“I’m sorry,” Dream whined, holding George’s hand to his cheek. “You’re just so intimidating.”

“Oh, sure. I’m the scariest man alive.” George leaned forward and bumped his forehead against Dream’s. “Boo.” Dream gave a little mocking yell of fear, a grin on his face. George shoved at his chest, laughing. “You’re such a dork.”

“I know.” Dream leaned in and kissed him again. He could feel George smiling.

He pulled away after a minute. “Do you want to stay in here tonight?”

“Absolutely.” George smiled wryly. “We should maybe change out of our gross clothes from today, though.”

Dream made a face. “Yeah. Probably.” He glanced over at his half-unpacked suitcase. “You could, um, borrow some of my clothes?”

George raised an eyebrow. “How domestic.”

Dream turned bright red. “I’m just trying to be polite. Feel free to walk all the way back to your room to change.”

“I’m kidding,” George sighed. He started to get up, probably to go rifle through Dream’s things, then stopped. He leaned back over and kissed Dream one more time, gentle and appreciative.

“Is this how we’re going to be for the rest of the trip?” Dream asked.

“Are you complaining?”

“Not really.” He grinned. “I don’t know how I’ll get enough of you before we have to go home.”

A shadow crossed George’s face, and Dream kicked himself. Why would he say that? He was totally ruining the moment.

George’s shift in mood, though, was gone in an instant. He rolled his eyes and headed over to Dream’s suitcase, humming as he searched for something to change into.

It took Dream another minute to drag himself out of the oh-my-god-this-is-really-happening daze he was in and get up to reach past George and grab a t-shirt and some sweatpants. He decided to use the bathroom to change, since he wasn’t sure where exactly their boundaries were at quite yet, even though he remembered George had seen him mostly naked the other day (though in his defense, it was mostly unintentional).

When he came back out, feeling decidedly more relaxed, George was lying in bed on his phone dressed in an oversized hoodie and what appeared to be nothing else. The hoodie was at least two sizes too big on George- it was a size too big on Dream, being a shitty Florida State sweatshirt he’d bought at a thrift store that he exclusively used for relaxing days at home. Dream barely registered the sweatshirt itself. “Are you wearing pants?” He asked incredulously.

George glanced up at Dream innocently. “I’m wearing boxers. I don’t sleep in pants, I’m not a heathen.”

“You’re absurd,” was the only response Dream could manage. He flopped down on the bed next to George, curling up against him. The sudden intimacy- even though just a few minutes ago they’d been making out- was overwhelming. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to sprint out the door or hold him so close there was no space left between them.

He wasn’t good at this sort of thing. Not at all.

George set his phone aside. “I hate when you look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you just watched me kick a puppy,” he replied grumpily. “You look all sad and conflicted. It’s making my chest hurt.”

“I’m sorry,” Dream said sheepishly. “If it wasn’t super obvious, I’m not good at romance.”

“Yeah, no shit.” George smiled a little. “Don’t worry, I’m great at it.” He leaned down and kissed him.

Dream sighed and reached up, taking hold of the back of George’s neck and dragging him closer. George wrapped his arms around Dream’s waist as Dream clambered on top of him, holding him tight. George kissed him like he meant it, and every time Dream had to pull away for air he felt like he was on fire.

He didn’t quite know when they stopped kissing, but eventually the moment devolved into soft mumbled affections and the steady sound of their breathing falling into sync. Dream felt like he was floating. As the city grew darker outside, Dream drifted into a deep sleep to the cadence of George’s heartbeat.

\--

THIS IS AN AUTHOR'S NOTE

I wanted to put the notes here instead of at the bottom, so people would be more likely to notice them.

If you didn't see the description change, I've been on a mental health down-spiral for like two months and have had exactly zero motivation to work on any personal projects, including this and other fanfiction I've been working on. While I do still want to finish this, it's going to be a slow crawl. I apologize to everyone who loves this fic, and I promise it will be done at some point, even if it takes me a really long time.

This will be part five, part one of two. Part six-ish will be Dream again, and it'll probably just be called part five-ish-again or something. I know this is super short, but I hope it's not totally disappointing. I just need to figure out where I want to go with the rest of the story, then it should be relatively smooth sailing when I find the motivation to work again.

Thank you for all of your continued support and love. It means the world to me. If you have any interest in keeping up with me personally, I'm very active on Twitter (@Queeniac_) and I stream three days a week on Twitch (twitch.tv/queeniac_). If not, totally cool, I promise I'll try to be on Ao3 a little more often.

Thanks for reading! <3

**Author's Note:**

> aha hey mamas welcome to my first ever AO3 fanfiction of all time! willing to bet i tagged all of this very incorrectly, so if you're here, thanks for giving chills a shot. might post this on Wattpad too- DO NOT REPOST THIS THERE. i will find you and be very angry in your dm's. follow me on twitter if you care, @Queeniac_
> 
> thanks for reading! let me know if you have any comments/questions/suggestions/nitpicks/etc


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